Comatose
by Dragon Sin Of Wrath
Summary: Lucy was fatally stabbed in Magnolia. What happens when she wakes up in a world with no magic where she's supposedly been comatose for three years? Can she find her way back to magic with the help of a mysterious woman? Her friends are different, and her life is upside down. Erza is cruel to her, Natsu doesn't like her, whats going on! NaLu GaLe JerZa. Will she be able to cope?
1. Bleeding in the rain

**Hey, so new story I'm trying. I'm going to bring an OC in later that will help Lucy find her way. Is this world where she's in a coma is Magnolia truely fake? Or is this her dream as she dies from the stab wound? Or is it a separate world all together like when Lisanna went to Edolas? Stay tuned to find out and please leave reviews!**

It all happened so fast. I didn't even have time to think.

The rain poured down that night in Magnolia, thunder rumbled in the distance as I walked home from the guild. I was trying to be quick, but it didn't pan out that way. I could have sworn that I heard footsteps behind me a couple of times but I paid it no mind. Probably just other people trying to get out of this rain. Boy was I ever wrong.

"Hey pretty lady where ya going?" A sleazy voice said as a tall man emerged from the shadows. I brushed past him with a scowl.

"Home." I answered cooly. His hand touched my arm and grabbed hold as I passed.

"You sure about that, blondie? Wouldn't you rather party with us?" He smirked as a few more guys roughly his size emerged from the shadows. I was a little bit nervos at this point, but decided to cover it with false bravado by pulling a key from my pouch.

"No. I don't. Not get lost or I'll scream." I said defiantly, mustering up as much courage as I could. In truth I was terrified. If they were wizards I might be in trouble... I felt cold metal against my stomach as he whirled me to face him. The tip of a blade.

"No you won't. You're going to do exactly what we tell you. Understand?" He chuckled to himself and I glared at him before gathering the air and screaming at the top of my lungs.

"NATSU! HAPPY! ERZA! GRAY! HELP M- AH!" I was cut off with a gasp as the blade entered my gut. It felt like pure ice was running through my veins as I slid to the ground. The men turned and fled, panicked that someone may have heard me. I shivered slightly, my vision swimming. My hand went to rest on the handle of the blade. A hand caught mine as I went to pull it out.

"Lucy you have to leave the blade in!" He exclaimed in a panic. "You'll bleed out if you don't!" It took a moment for him to come into focus with the street lamp behind his head, casting a shadow.

"Lo...Ke?" I choked out, blood bubbling past my lips. It hurt so much... I couldn't seem to move. "Hurts Loke... Hurts really... bad."

"Lucy come on! Somebody help me!" He yelled, but of course no one was around. It was pouring rain. It was getting harder and harder to breathe as my lungs began filling with my own blood. I was scared.

"I don't want to... Leave." I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes. "I want to stay in Fairytail Loke..." I could feel my tears slide down my cheeks as Loke's tears splashed down from above with the rain.

"Of course you can stay! Just keep your eyes open! Look at me! LUCY DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!" He cried, hugging me close to him. I couldn't stop crying. Eventually I couldn't breathe anymore and began to drown from the blood in my lungs. As I wretched and coughed trying to expel the red liquid, I knew that it was no use. I was dying. I could still hear Loke calling my name, telling me to look at him as my eyes closed and everything faded into darkness.

…...

My eyes flew open. I was in a soft hospital bed with monitors and beeping noises all around. The pain in my gut was gone. My gaze whirled around wildly. This wasn't the infirmary or Magnolia hospital! It certainly wasn't Porlyeusica's place... where was I? A dark haired nurse walked into the room and gasped as I sat up, running from the room once again.

"Doctor! Doctor! Miss Heartfilia is awake!" She yelled, sprinting down the hall. I held my aching head and pulled IVs and other tubes and things from my arms. A few minutes later, a kindly looking woman entered the room, her pink hair up in a tight bun.

"Miss Porlyeusica?" I asked in confusion. Why would she be in a hospital? She hated people!

"It's so good to see that you've awoken, child." She said gently, walking to the bedside and holding my hand. "You gave your family quite a scare."

"I d-don't have any f-f-family!" I stammered, confused. "Where's Natsu? And the master, and Erza and Gray?" I looked around as she looked at me sympathetically.

"I see. You're confusing the dream from your coma with reality. It's perfectly normal." She said, putting a hand on my cheek gently. Eventually everything will go back to the way it was before. You'll see."

"Back to normal? And where are my gate keys?" I reached towards my pocket, but they weren't there. "Oh no! I bet those ment took them I have to find them! My spirits need my help!" I tried to get up only to fall. The rosette ran to my side to help me up.

"Now Lucy, I know that this is all going to be very hard to take in, but you must listen to me. I don't know what gate keys are, but they were part of a dream." She said firmly, laying me back down on the cot. "What I do know is that three years ago you were hit by a car. The trauma had put you in a coma and you've been like that ever since." Her gentle voice was reassuring, but I refused to believe it.

"No! It isn't true! I'm a wizard of Fairytail! My guild is my home! I have an apartment that I adore! Celestial spirits! I have friends there! We go on missions and Natsu gets motion sick and-" I looked down at my left hand. Oh my god. My guild mark... it wasn't there!

"You are Lucy Ashley Heartfilia. Sole daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia. You have two brothers named Laxus and Sting. You go to Fairytail high school where you major in celestial studies. I'm sorry, Lucy.

But there's no such thing as magic." She looked me right in the eye as she said it. I could feel my world begin to crumble around me. None of it was real... Nothing at all? I held out for maybe ten seconds before I began sobbing uncontrolably.

"It isn't true! You're lying! Erza! Natsu! Please help me! PLEASE!" I sobbed. The guild crest was gone. How could my guild crest, my pride, just vanish?! I needed to find my keys! Maybe grandpa crux would know what had happened! Everyone had lost their memories! Yeah that must have been it! I happened to look out the window where I saw a raven haired girl. I paused, feeling as though I knew her. She was staring right at me with her arms crossed. Her long hair hung down to her waist and she wore a brown bomber jacket, jeans, and knee high combat boots. She studied me for a moment, her blue eyes piercing before she blurred and vanished. Had I imagined it?... I don't think so. I didn't have time to dwell on it as two blondes stumbled into the room.

"LUCY!" Sting cried, crushing me in a hug with tears streaming down his face. "We thought you'd never wake up! We were so worried!" He buried his face in my hair and my eyes widened in shock. Why was Sting hugging me?! Laxus pulled us both into his arms, crying softly as well. Now I'd seen it all. LAXUS DREYER CRYING?! I should take a picture. I was honestly just dazed. I didn't know what to do or say. If you had just been told that two people -one of which tried to kill you in the past- were your brothers in a world that was completely void of magic, wouldn't you be a LITTLE panicked?

"I... I think I'm going to pass out..." I mumbled, stumbling out of the embrace and fainting, one of the blonde catching me before I hit the floor.


	2. Lonely

I woke up in a small room. The walls were painted pink, the bedspread was pink, and little golden stars hung down from the ceiling. Golden translucent drapes surrounded the bed that I was in. A sign reading 'princess' Hung on the wall along with some pictures of sting, Laxus and I. Then my gaze landed on her. The black haired woman that I'd seen from the window of the hospital! I screamed at the top of my lungs as she growled and stepped towards me only to shimmer and vanish once again.

"FUCK! GODDAMN IT! MOTHER TRUCKER!" She cursed at the top of her lungs as she disappeared. I stared blankly at the spot as the door burst open.

"Lucy! What's wrong, we heard a scream!" Sting gasped, running over to the bed. Laxus barreled in behind him.

"It's 2 AM, Lucy, why are you even awake?"

"Th-th-there was a w-woman! Th-there!" I pointed to the empty air. These two may not have been the Sting and Laxus that I knew, them being my...brothers and all that meant I could trust them, right? They both looked at the vacent space, then at each other, then at me. They nodded silently as though agreeing on something.

"Listen, Lucy. We know that it's confusing for you. Doctor Porlyeusica warned us of that. She told us that hallucinations might happen. Next time you see one, try to calm down okay?" Sting assured me gently. A small red cat jumped up onto my lap.

"L-L-Lector?" I stammered. Wait... if they had exceeds, then there must be magic! "Lector! Oh wow am I ever glad to see you! Can you tell me where I am?" I asked desperately. The small cat looked up at me uncomprehendingly, simply nudging my arm and curling under it as he began to purr. I could feel tears prick at my eyes. Even exceeds weren't real...

"Hey, why doesn't Lector stay with you tonight?" Sting asked, holding my hand. He whistled and I heard the sound of claws clicking on the hardwood. Sting put a small white cocker spaniel on top of the bed with me. "Plu can stay with you too. They can keep you grounded to reality if the hallucinations hit again, okay?" I nodded, more to get them out of the room rather than anything else. I needed time alone. I needed to cry. Sting gave my hand a gentle squeeze and kissed my forehead. Laxus ruffled my hair with a gentle smile before they left. As soon as the door closed, the tears began to flow freely. I sobbed for my lost life, mourned my lost comrades, wept for the magic that I would never get back. Was this really how I had to spend the rest of my life? Longing for what I had taken for granted?" I felt warm fur brush against my hand where my guild mark usually was as Lector nuzzled my hand softly. I cuddled the cat close to me, burying my face in his fur.

"What do I do?" I sniffled. "I just wish that I was home. In Magnolia! Where I belong! After about an hour I ran out of tears. And yet, dry sobs wracked my body. My eyes were red and puffy as I opened my mouth and began to sing softly, I always sang when I was depressed. And this... well it definitely qualified. My voice barely a whisper I sang.

"

2am; where do I begin,

Crying off my face again.

The silent sound of loneliness Wants to follow me to bed

. I'm the ghost of a girl that I want to be most.

I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well.

Dancing slowly in an empty room,

Can the lonely take the place of you?

I sing myself a quiet lullaby.

Let you go and let the lonely in To take my heart again.

Too afraid to go inside

For the pain of one more loveless night.

Cause the loneliness will stay with me

And hold me till I fall asleep.

I'm the ghost of a girl that I want to be most.

I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well.

Dancing slowly in an empty room,

Can the lonely take the place of you?

I sing myself a quiet lullaby.

Let you go and let the lonely in To take my heart again.

Broken pieces of A barely breathing story

Where there once was love Now there's only me

and the lonely.

Dancing slowly in an empty room

Can the lonely take the place of you?

I sing myself a quiet lullaby

Let you go and let the lonely in To take my heart again."

As I finished the last verse, my eyes grew heavy. For a moment during the song, I could have sworn that I heard someone else singing along. It may have been the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard. That voice lulled me like nothing I'd ever felt. My head hit the pillow with a thump as I heard a gentle voice whisper,

"Sleep tight, my hatchling."

…

After a week of bed rest, I stood at the bus stop, a backpack slug over my shoulder. I kept glancing down at my hand where the guild mark used to be... but every time I looked, it was still missing. I was seeing that girl everywhere. sometimes I'd look out of the corner of my eye, sometimes she'd try to attack me again. But every single time, she dissolved. Every single day would try to open a celestial gate without my keys. Or at the very least make my magic energy manifest, but I was having no luck. I climbed onto the huge yellow magic mobile when it pulled up and sat in the first empty seat I could find. Students pointed and whispered about me. I suppose it made sense if I was really in a coma for three years. Even though I found the whole 'brother' thing weird, I wished that Sting and Laxus were with me now. But no luck. Sting when to Sabertooth high across town with my apparent cousin Rogue. What was it with all these people being my relatives? Laxus was at Fairytail collage, owned by the same headmaster on the other side of town.

I was worried. So far it seemed that the dream In my coma had simply taken the names of people that I knew in real life and put them in along with random characters. But I didn't even knew if my former friends existed at all! No... Don't think like that, Lucy. I'm sure that they exist. You'll find Natsu and the rest. Even if there's no magic, you must still be friends, right?! No one just imagines a friendship like that! They just don't... right? Even as I thought those words...

"Hey blondie. You're in my seat." The cold tone of his voice chilled me to the bone as I forced myself to tilt my chin up. The bottom of his vest up his chest, past a scaly white scarf, to the tips of fluffy pink hair, finally up to his face.

"Natsu..." I whispered in utter shock. I'd never heard him sound so steely. Not even against the evilest of people we'd fought as a team. The sneer that he wore could curdle milk.

"What? Did you not hear me, sleeping beauty? Don't tell me that in those three years you forgot all the fun we used to have! Well... Fun for me. You were too busy crying from all the bruises to REALLY enjoy yourself." He laughed evilly. I trembled. I'd never seen Natsu even consider... What was going... Why? My tremors got more and more violent until I was shaking like a leaf. It couldn't be true! It couldn't! Natsu was my best friend! The kindest, goofiest, most lovable guy in the world!... Wasn't he?

"You have until I count to three. One. Two. Th-" He raised his fist as someone else caught his wrist. Someone in their underwear.

"Let it go, Flame brain." The man growled. Gray. "Don't beat on her again. Or I swear I'll kill you." The two had a silent staring match, the fire in Natsu's eyes countering the cold fury of Gray's. After a moment, Natsu wrenched his hand away.

"Until next time, blondie." He grumbled, stalking away to sit with more people I recognized. Cobra. Angel. Midnight. Racer. The Oragion Seis. What was this world? I didn't understand! Gray sat beside me (still in his underwear) and pulled me into a warm hug.

"We thought you'd never wake up." He murmured into my hair. He was acting like... Oh dear god. "You have no idea how lost I've been without my best friend." He said quietly. I nearly fainted again. Gray and I were best friends?! _B-b-but Natsu and I are-_ I glanced over at the Pinkett who grinned coldly as me, cracking his knuckles. "You just wait. Erza and Wendy are going to be so relieved! Not to mention Mira, Elfman and Lisanna." So then... Everyone was real? At least to some extent... "Welcome home... Lucy."

 **The song was "The Lonely" By Christina Perri. Please leave reviews, I live to hear your thoughts! Just for the record, when Natsu reffers to all the 'fun' They used to have, he did NOT rape her. I know it could come across that way, but he just used her as a punching bag a lot. Also, I SWEAR THAT THINGS'LL GET BETTER BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM! PINKIE SWEAR!**


	3. The Dragon

When we go to school, Gray slung his arm around my shoulders as we got off the bus (STILL in his underwear) This was all just to creepy. This place was entirely different from home! When we went to our lockers (they were beside each other) The black haired girl from my hallucinations was waiting. But she looked different this time. Rather than hanging loose, her hair was up in two long black pigtails. Instead of a cold warrior-like frown, she wore a bright chipper smile. Her clothes were different too. Her bomber jacket, combat booths, and silver knives that hung from her belt were exchanged for a short crop top that said "Bite me", a mini skirt, and converse shoes. She had a tattoo of a dragon breathing fire on her hip. She pecked Gray on the lips as he got to his locker, then jumped into my arms.

"Lucy! I'm so glad that you're awake! Do you have any idea how worried we've been?!"

"Lauren, give her a break. She's still getting used to things. Gray chuckled as she crushed me in her arms. Who was this girl again? I already found it harder to remember the members of Fairytail. Was I going to forget them all?! The thought saddened me beyond belief. Even if it... Even if it hadn't been real, those had been the best times of my life... Lauren let go of me reluctantly, clinging onto Gray's arm instead.

"I'm just happy to see her!" She pouted, snuggling into him. He chuckled to himself.

"I know that. But you've got to remember how confusing this must be for her." He said gently. The girl seemed to think on it before sighing.

"You're right. Sorry, Luce. I was just really happy to see you." She grinned. Her canines weren't sharpened, so I guess that any suspicions I had about the dragon tattoo were gone. the ink on her tattoo looked strange though... huh.

"It's uh... It's okay.." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. Then it was out of one hug and into the next.

"Lu-chan!" I was tackled from behind by a tiny girl with blue hair. I yelped as we hit the ground, Levy clinging to me. Tears splashed the back of her neck. "We thought you were gone! I thought you were as good as dead!" She sobbed. "I'd read to you every day that you were in that horrible hospital bed! And you're finally awake!"

Levy. Levy was still my friend. I began to cry as well as I hugged her back.

"Oh Levy..." I whispered. "Thank you. Thank you for being you."

"Wh... What do you mean?" Levy asked in confusion. She gave me a worried look as though concerned with my mental health.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." I whispered, climbing back to my feet. I hugged her tightly before letting go. "Where's Erza? And Wendy? Come to think of it, where's Gajeel and Juvia?" I asked, looking around the hallway. Levy, Gray, and Lauren looked at me in confusion. "What?"

"Well... You don't really know them is all. They're Natsu's friends..." Levy murmered. Lauren buried her face in Gray's chest, shaking like a leaf. He held her close and murmured soothing words. I felt like everything was collapsing beneath my feet. Wendy... Erza... Gajeel... None of them were my friends? According to Levy I didn't even know them...

"Natsu the dragon Dragneel." Gray growled, holding his girlfriend closer. That's when I noticed that the ink on Lauren's hip wasn't ink. it was a brand. The skin was charred black as though someone had held a burning poker against it. My eyes widened.

"Natsu did that?!" I exclaimed in pure shock. Levy nodded.

"He was going to do it to you. But Lauren stood up to him. Called him a big bully. They held her down and used the poker on her instead. She's never been the same. She's not a fighter like Gray is. Never hurt a fly in her life." Levy murmured to me. Natsu was going to brand me with a hot poker?! I don't think that I could live with this kind of Natsu. I wanted the dragonslayer that I knew and loved! The one who cared for his nakama! I almost began to cry again when I was saved by the bell.

"We... We should get to class." I whispered, running down the hallway and leaving my baffled friends behind.

…

As if nothing else could go wrong today, I had gotten lost on the way to class. I slid into the last seat available just before class started. That seat happened to be right in front of Natsu. No. I won't call him that. I won't! The last available seat what right in front of... The dragon.

"Good morning, class." Said a green haired man as he entered the room. "I would like to welcome back to our English class Miss Lucy Heartfilia. I wish to see you all treating her with respect." The teacher said cooly. You had to be kidding me. FREED was my English teacher?! I thumped my head on the desk. Could this reality get any weirder?

"Hey Luuuuuucy." The voice from behind me purred.

 _Ignore him. Ignore him and he'll go away._ I thought, staring straight ahead.

"Luuuuuuuuucy." He sang softly. I felt his hand tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Don't ignoooore meeee." I slapped his hand away and heard him growl softly. "And here I wanted to play nice, blondie."

"Please pull out your copies of Othello." I pulled the small book from my bag and turned to the right page when I felt a stabbing pain in my back. I yelped in pain, then clapped my hands over my mouth. My gaze flicked around the room and landed on Nats-… landed on the dragon. He held a pair of scissors in his right hand, the tip had a small bead of blood running down it. I tried to ignore it, tears stinging my eyes. Freed looked at me.

"Miss Heartfilia are you alright?"

"Y-y-yes. I'm okay Fr-… Mr. Justine." I whispered miserably, lowering my gaze to my book. The green haired man turned back to the board and began writing. I needed something to distract me. Anything! As the scissors poked and prodded at my skin over and over again, I began looking to others around the room to see if they noticed. But all eyes were guiltily averted. My gaze landed on Lauren hopefully, but she just stared straight ahead, bottom lip trembling slightly. Was everyone here really that afraid of him?! So what else could I do? I grit my teeth and bore it.

"Who can tell me what the moral to the story Othello is?" I saw Levy raise her hand sheepishly.

"That jealousy is the green eyed monster?" She asked.

"Correct. Excellent job, Miss Mcgarden."

"Know it all." Natsu grumbled.

"Mister Dragneel, perhaps if you paid more attention in class rather than sleeping, you would know the answer." The greenette said pointedly. If it were my Natsu, the whole guild would be laughing, making fun of the goofball if someone had said something like that. But as things were now, the classroom was dead silent. No one dared laugh... Except me. Freed cracked a small smile as I giggled, momentarily forgetting the direness of the situation. Everyone looked at me in shock. Including the dragon. It was clear that no one had ever laughed at Natsu before. Then, other people caught on. The giggles became contagious until the whole class was laughing. Even Natsu's followers. He stood abruptly, grabbing his back pack.

"Young man, take your se-"

"Shut up you middle aged loser." He snapped before leaning in close to my ear. "You're dead meat, sleeping beauty." He purred in my ear before walking out. My chest constricted as fear ignited in my heart. And then, just like a rose as it is thrown into flames, slowly withering as it is consumed by the fire, the laughter died in my throat.

 **Comatose. I'll never wake up without an overdose of YOOOOOOUUU! Sorry, Skillet is my band. Okay so once again leave your reviews and I SWEAR THAT THIS WILL BE NALU BY THE END! And not like E.N.D. end, like "the end" so don't go all conspiracy theory on me. But I wonder if this is what E.N.D Natsu would be like. Cruel and sadistic? Anyvay, keep the reviews coming :)**


	4. Lunch in the Carnival of Souls

"You're dead meat sleeping beauty. Dead meat. Dead meat." Those words kept bouncing around in my head all morning. As if that threat wasn't bad enough, I kept learning weirder and weirder things about my life. Apparently Gildarts was the math teacher, and Cana, his adopted daughter, was alcohol free. Master Makarov was my grandfather, and the headmaster of the highschool. I suppose it made sense how I could get some of their personalities confused in my old world... But I think the biggest shock to me was that Zeref, the most evil wizard in the history of the world, was just a shy little kid... Lauren's little brother. That was just bizarre. I suppose it made sense though, they had the same raven black hair. Although Zeref's eyes were black, and hers were a clear icy blue. We all sat together at lunch. A small table of me, Gray, Lauren, Levy, Elfman, Lisanna, Mira. Apparently Mirajane was the nurse at the school. She and her siblings were the only ones who spent time both with my group of friends AND the dragon's apparently.

"Natsu and I were childhood friends. I know that you never really liked when I hung out with him, but I promise that I'll never let him hurt you while I'm around whether he's my friend or not." She said gently, resting her hand on mine. I nodded, looking over at the others. Lauren and Gray both picked away at an ice cream sundae while Levy popped blueberries into her mouth. I could have sworn that I saw Gajeel watching her from across the room. I guess not much changed there. Zeref kept on glancing at Natsu with a wistful expression, but when he went to talk about it, he was silenced by a sharp look from his sister. If I had to guess, the quiet child looked up to how cool and popular everyone thought the rosette was. I wish that Sting was here to eat with me. Even though I wasn't totally used to the idea of him being my brother, he was my friend. I felt safe around he and Rogue.

"How do you feel? Is it disorienting waking up from a coma?" Mira asked sympathetically, leaning on her hands. "I was told that you had quite some dream while you were under." I nodded.

"You could say that." I mumbled, not really wanting to bring up those painful memories.

"Come on! Tell me about it!" She insisted brightly. I sighed.

"Well... It all began in a city called Hargeon..."

….

By the end of my memor-… my... stories. Yeah, stories. Not memories. All of their jaws had dropped. I blushed slightly. If magic didn't exist then that all must have sounded crazy...

" _NATSU_ was your best friend?!"

"I was known as the she-devil?!"

"Big brother elf could turn into a beast?!"

"Lisanna died?!"

"Lector could fly?!"

"Your brother tried to destroy a city?!"

"You fought demons?!"

"I was STILL a stripper?!" Gray demanded. We all dissolved into giggles after that.

"I guess even in people's dreams you're still a pole dancer." Lauren laughed softly. He have her an exasperated look.

"I do NOT pole dance!"

"That's not what you told me." She giggled as his face got even redder. "You told me that you could work the pole."

"I did NOT!" He protested weakly. Her head dipped out of view for a moment as she rummaged around in her backpack, pulling out a small device that looked like a communication lacryma. I'm pretty sure it's called a cell phone. She tapped the screen a few times and showed us a video that she had taken of some very sexy dancing from Gray.

"That was a dare and you know it!" He exclaimed.

"Quite a bit of talent for a one time thing." She smirked, winking at him.

"Can we just move on?!" He grumbled, glaring at his girlfriend. "I'm going to get you back for that."

"Bite me."

"Calm down you two. Give it a rest." Levy chuckled, intervening as the two gave each other a death glare. "But really, that was some dream Lu-chan! Solid script magic sounds really cool!" She grinned at me. I nodded.

"It really is. But it's also really confusing seeing everyone how they really are as opposed to how I feel like I met you all..."

"So you really don't remember anything from before this?"

"Not a thing." I shook my head. "I keep trying. I lay awake at night desperately trying to remember, but it's all blank. All a dream."

"I think we can all agree that the most surprising thing is how you got Natsu so mixed up... Natsu was the cruelest person to you for years." Zeref commented. I hung my head and sighed heavily.

"Yeah. I know that now..."

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" Lauren asked quietly. "BEFORE he was cruel to her, they were pretty close. Then one day he totally flipped. Maybe... Maybe she wanted to remember the better times?" My friends looked at one another then slowly nodded.

"True. That could be it. Back when Natsu was a real man." Elfman said. Gray gave him a strange look.

"… He was a kid. You realize that right? Not a man."

"Man."

…

"Sting? I'm home!" I called into the empty house. According to this life, my father and mother had died a long time ago, leaving me in the legal care of Laxus. The older blonde had a staff meeting after school so I didn't bother calling for him. I probably should have mentioned this before, but Laxus was the phys Ed teacher. I heard no response from inside. I tossed my bag inside the door and pulled an apple from the fridge before sitting on the couch and opening a magazine. They may not have had sorcery weekly here, but the fashion magazines weren't too bad.

"You're dead meat sleeping beauty." I still couldn't get that wretched voice out of my head. But My mood kept plunging deeper and deeper as those words echoed in my mind. Over and over and over again. I hugged my knees in. There was one thing about this world that I just could not understand... How could I have let myself believe in him? Even in a dream I should have known better!

After a while I got fed up with wallowing in my own thoughts. and turned on the radio, fortunately, it favoured me today, playing a song that I loved hearing. Granted it was a sad song, but I loved it a lot.

 _She's prayin' to a God she doesn't believe in_

 _begging for a change in her life_

 _She says, "Lord I haven't been here that long._

 _I mean my body's here but my soul is so far gone."_

 _They laugh and she doesn't know why_

 _They laugh harder When they make her cry_

 _She says, "Tell me, why, why. Can someone tell me why?_

 _Why, why?_

 _I've been walking but I've hit my end."_

 _She says, "I know a lot of faces but I aint got no friends"_

 _Her skin is her paper Her razor is her pen_

 _She's writing out her life She's writing out her end_

 _Tell me why, why, why?_

 _Can someone tell me why?_

 _Why, why?_

 _They set fire to her gally,_

 _danced on the decks so can you sit there deepening the cuts on her wrist_

 _She cries alone,_

 _she'll die alone,_

 _if you dont stop now she's in the carnival of souls_

 _They breathe her life,_

 _breathe her life like a dragon breathes fire and it's burning her inside_

 _All your words are holding her knife,_

 _don't give her a ticket to ride_

 _the carnival of souls The carnival of souls_

 _The carnival of souls_

 _Ooooh_

 _She wont speak cuz she knows they wont care_

 _Try to fight back but she doesnt dare_

 _Why do they keep trying to push her over the edge?_

 _It doesn't make sense_

 _She's already dead_

 _They say, "Let's burn her ships, let her drown in her life"_

 _We'll watch her struggle as the tide takes her life_

 _And I don't know why People like to watch others die_

 _They set fire to her gally,_

 _dance on the decks so can you sit there deepening the cuts on her wrist_

 _She cries alone_

 _She'll die alone_

 _If you don't stop now she's in the carnival of souls_

 _They breathe her life, breathe her life like a dragon breathes fire and it's burning her inside_

 _All your words are holding her knife, don't give her a ticket to ride..._

 _They set fire to her gally,_

 _dance on the decks so can you sit there deepening the cuts on her wrist_

 _She cries alone_

 _She'll die alone If you don't stop now she's in the carnival of souls_

 _Breathe her life, breathe her life like a dragon breathes fire and it's burning her inside_

 _All your words are holding her knife don't give her a ticket to ride_

 _the carnival of souls_

 _Carnival of souls_

 _Ooooo"_

I sang along gently to the song be Avery Cantello. Carnival of souls. My heart clenched. The song was really just hitting me head on right now... What with the whole business with Natsu the dragon Dragneel and whatnot... Since this whole thing started I've felt dead inside. But Natsu seems determined to keep kicking me down anyway... I sighed heavily and began climbing the stairs. Back up to my bedroom to try and use magic. What I saw when I go in there was definitely not what I was expecting.

"This place hasn't changed a bit."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

 **Tee hee! Hi minna! Okay, now Who else things that Gray would be a great pole dancer? Raise your hands. Please leave reviews, I love to hear your feedback! Sorry if this chapter if kinda weird at all, I have writer's block... I tried to post this yesterday but my computer was being a bitch and the website kept having problems. This is Comatose chapter 4.7 because of how many diferent files I've tried to upload ;-;  
**


	5. Stellar

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" I demanded, staring at the intruder. Or should I say intruders.

"Easy there my princess. I'm not some psycho killer." The orange haired man laughed, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He wore a loose t-shirt with a lion on it and a pair of jeans. Loke. His companion was shorter, and had pink hair to just below her chin. She had wide blue eyes and wore a black and white dress. Around her wrists were little metal cuff bracelets.

"Oh my god... Loke?! Virgo?!" I gasped, unable to believe that my spirits may actually be real.

"What am I? Wood?" Another boy stepped out from behind Loke, the two were identical except for the fact that the one who had spoken wore no glasses. He seemed pretty pissed, glaring at me. Loke put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leo take it easy. Remember what Gray told me? She's still kinda confused." He said. Leo nodded reluctantly, Looking down.

"Right... sorry..." Leo grumbled. I could feel my heart start to sink again. Then I saw her leaning on Leo's shoulder. That damn hallucination.

"School playboy. He really hasn't changed a bit has he?" She smirked, pointing at Loke. that same woman who looked like Lauren's twin. "Of course, I personally am of the opinion that Gray trumps."

"Shut up!" I hissed as she disappeared again. The three of them looked at me in confusion.

"Are you okay Luce? Want us to go?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head slowly.

"N-no... sorry. It's my fault I just thought I heard something... Hey I uh... I'm still a bit fuzzy on who's who... If you talked to Gray, he probably told you about-"

"About your dream? Yes." Virgo said sympathetically. "I'm sorry that you're so out of it... I know it must be hard princess. To jog your memory, I am Virgo Stellar. These are my older brothers. Leo, and his twin brother Loke. We've been friends since you helped my big brothers when they had depression... remember?" She blinked her wide eyes as she recited it in a matter of fact tone. Just like the Virgo that I knew...

"She's right." The two boys chimed together, holding out their arms. a dozen horizontal scars ran up each arm, they had faded to thin white blemishes, only visible because of the tan that both of them possessed. "We couldn't see light in life anymore until you helped us out. Like a little beam of starlight.

"I helped you that much?" I asked, wide eyed. They nodded.

"We did bad things." Loke began.

"Things we weren't proud of."

"We just wanted to disappear."

"But you stopped us. My girlfriend Karen killed herself because I didn't want to be with her anymore. The guilt ate me alive." Leo said quietly.

"I would sleep around and publicly humiliate girls because I felt bad about myself. I lacked confidence and took it out on others. I just couldn't see another way. You kept trying to talk to us and help us to feel better." Loke continued.

"Like you could see what we hid behind smiles and jokes."

"But we pushed you away just like everybody else."

"Finally we couldn't take it anymore. We went together to the cliff in front of the waterfall on the edge of the city everything just seemed so hopeless. Neither of us wanted to go on. And we decided that if we were going to jump, we would do it together. Parents always make the joke that 'if your best friend jumped off a cliff, would you follow him?' but with us, we were actually going to do it."

"and we stood there... thinking..."

"We asked ourselves if we should do it."

"And decided that there was no other way. We walked to the edge, and looked down at the rocks when we heard your voice."Loke pushed his glasses up with a smile. "I believe it went something like this. 'YOU TWO IDIOTS GET DOWN OFF THAT CLIFF RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KICK YOUR ASSES DEAD OR NOT!'" He imitated in a high angry voice. Leo shuddered.

"I'm pretty sure I stopped out of pure fear. That motherly commanding voice gives me the chills to this very day..." He muttered. I blushed slightly. So that whole thing must have been the whole business with the whole Karen Leo/Loke thing...

"You practically dragged us off that cliff by our ears." Loke laughed, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "You became someone to talk to, and we became your knights. Whenever Natsu was giving you crap, we'd step in."

"And we're going to keep doing that. We're your friends!" Leo smiled. Virgo hugged me.

"It's so great that we can be friends again princess." A smile gradually spread over my face. My spirits were real. Real people! Did that mean that I could be real friends with them? Go out to a movie with the twins or... or maybe go to an archery range with Sagittarius? If they were all as similar to the personalities that I knew like these three then maybe this whole world could have some benefits! Maybe I could really make a home here...

"Oi Luce? You up here?" I heard sting call.

"I'm in my room!" I called back. My blonde haired brother opened the door slightly.

"All decent?"

"You're good man. Unfortunately I don't think she'd strip for us." Leo laughed as Sting walked in.

"Oh hey guys! Good to see that Lucy's hanging out with friends again!" He smiled, looking at me. I smiled back.

"Yeah... It's nice. I almost feel like we're closer now than before the coma." I said quietly, thinking of my fond memories of the awkward maid spirit and the smooth lion spirit. "But it's really nice to have my friends to help me right now."

"Of course, princess." Virgo smiled. "May I take you dress shopping tomorrow after school perhaps? I feel that we should catch up."

"We'll come if you're underwear shopping." Loke grinned. I rolled my eyes and gave him a smack over the head.

"You pervert!" I exclaimed. He chuckled as Sting glared.

"Dude that's my sister! Show some respect! You and Leo can come to the skate park with Rogue and I if you want."

"Sounds fun." They grinned. "Count us in! We're going to beat you again with our Regulas double tail spins."

"Like you could beat my white dragon moves! Rogue and I are the twin dragons! We can beat the Lion brothers in our sleep!"

"Ha! You wish!" They yelled. I held up a hand.

"Take it outside you guys! Sure Virgo, I'd love to."

"Excellent! Perhaps I can get Aquarius and Aries to come with us." She said brightly. Leo turned.

"Um... Aries is going? Maybe I could uh... tag along?"

"No way! You can't just hang your own brother out to dry for a girl!" Loke exclaimed in horror. I smirked to myself.

"Well... Maybe we can all drop by and watch you show off when you're done?" I suggested. I could see Leo's eyes brighten.

"Sure! It's a date!"

 **Hey, my computers about to die so just in time! Leave reviews as always and I hope you liked the chapter!**


	6. Bring it on

The mall was even bigger than the Magnolia marketplace, there were stores for EVERYTHING! I probably would have gotten lost in there had my friends not shown me the way. My heart soared when I saw my friends at the entrance to the large building, Virgo pulling me by the arm. They looked identical to my celestial spirits. Aries was glancing around timidly, her hair still long and pink, curled up at the bottom. She wore a short white dress and boots of white puffy wool. She apologized to anyone who even looked at her. I couldn't help but smile to myself. Aquarius tapped her foot impatiently, a scowl on her face. She was tall, a good 6'4. She wore a short crop top with the symbol of aquarius on the front, and a wave on the back, She wore a pair of ripped blue jeans along with it.

"You're late." She said grumpily, arms crossed with a fiery look in her eyes. I sweat dropped slightly.

"S-sorry... Sting had to pick up something from the pharmacy before we he dropped us off..." I apologized. Her eyes only narrowed.

"Tch. Just don't let it happen again. I'm not a patient person." She grumbled.

"Y-y-yes ma'am!" I stammered nervously. Good to know that she hadn't changed a bit...

"Lucy-sama!" Silver hair tickled my nose as a familiar girl hugged me close.

"Yukino?" I asked. The girl pulled back and grinned at me happily.

"It's so good to see you! Do you have any idea how worried we were? I can't believe you grew so much while you were asleep!" She said happily. I smiled. Same old Yukino. Maybe this world wasn't so bad. I mean, even though there was no magic, so many of my friends hadn't changed! But... could I really be happy here when Natsu, Erza, Wendy, Gajeel, Juvia, and god only knows how many others were so very different? I didn't know. Luckily I didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Can we hurry this along? We're already falling behind and I have a date tonight." Aquarius huffed.

"Sorry!" Aries whimpered. I nodded. Virgo led the way as we walked into the huge building. Stores lined either wall. There were stores for games, stores for clothes, stores for movie lacrymas, stores for candy, everything! I had bought us all some sweets at the candy store to nibble on with the pocket money that Sting had given me. I suppose I needed to get a job soon.

It was like a dream come true. I had always wanted to do something fun like this with my spirits. Something that friends would do together! But since I could only open two gates at once, and never for any period of time, I had never dared hope that it could be possible. We got to the dress shop later where _she_ was waiting.

"You know, I never understood why you enjoyed dress shopping." My hallucination sighed, looking at the dresses on the rack she was leaning on distastefully. "I mean it's so BORING! Give me a fight or some sort of deadly task over this any day." She snorted, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "Honestly Lucy. What's the point to this? Hellooooo? Oh. The cold shoulder? I see how it is. You think if you ignore me I'll go away right? Well think again. There are things that we need to discuss when you finally listen to me." Her image distorted for a moment. then flickered. She swayed slightly. "Shit." She mumbled before her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted. It was only then that I noticed all conversation between the girls had stopped.

"Lucy-sama?" Yukino asked, frowning in concern. I shook my head vigorously, trying to rid myself of that sinking feeling that I always got after a visit from my own insanity.

"Huh? Oh sorry... Lost in thought..." I lied, smiling reassuringly. "Let's try some of these on yeah?" I grinned. The girls smiled happily and began looking around the store for any that caught their eyes.

…...

In the end, Virgo had bought a short black dress that was poofy at the bottom, Aries had purchased a long white dress that went down to her knees and got longer in the back, going down to her ankles. Aquarius had bought a dark royal blue dress that had been layered to almost look like fish scales at the bottom, with glitter across the chest. it went down to her knees and she looked beautiful. I had bought a simple strapless summer dress with little sakura flowers on top of a black background. It was loose and breezy and I loved it. Yukino was the only one to not buy anything, nothing in the store really speaking to her. We were all smiling by the time we were through. I checked my watch.

"Oh jeez! We're going to be late if we don't hurry!" I exclaimed, "We're supposed to be at the skate park in fifteen minutes!" Aries Virgo and I quickly said our goodbyes and departed, picking up lunch for the boys to make up for our late arrival. But when we got there... it wasn't exactly what we were expecting...

…...

"Don't you DARE talk about my sister like that!" Sting roared, his arms pinned behind his back by Rogue. Leo was holding Loke back in a similar fashion.

"He's just baiting you! It's not worth it!" Leo growled, struggling against the strength of his brother. A familiar pinkette stood a few feet away, smirking smugly at the four.

"What? Does it bother you?" He purred. "All I said was that I'd love to use her like the little slut she dresses like."

"TAKE THAT BACK!" He drove his elbow back into Rogue's ribs, swinging his fist at the dragon. Natsu ducked and drove his knee into Sting's gut, causing him to fall. I gasped, running forwards.

"Sting!" I shrieked, running forwards. I heard a clank like armor, and someone pulled me into a bone crushing hold.

"Don't interfere." Erza snapped. My eyes widened. No. No I couldn't believe it! Not Erza!

"Lucyyy!" I saw a flash of pink and green, and a little boy in a pink frog sweater was punching Erza weakly. He had bright green hair and tears in his dark brown eyes. "Let Lucy go!"

"Frosche get away from her!" Rogue yells worriedly from where he and Gajeel stare each other down. Erza's grip seemed to soften slightly. She leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"I don't want to hurt the child. So here's what you're going to do. Punch me in the jaw. Understand? I'll go down, and he won't get hurt." She said quickly. My eyes widened.

"Thank you Erza! I-"

"Just do it." She growled. "Before I change my mind." Her grip slackened and I turned, driving my fist upwards as fast as I could. I felt it connect. It. Hurt. Like. Hell.

I cursed under my breath and cradled my knuckles as the knight fell. hitting the ground and not moving. "Come on!" I tugged on Frosche's wrist, and retreated a short distance away with Aries and Virgo who for some reason was dancing...

"Big brothers say that they'll meet us back at Lucy's." Virgo said, walking away quickly with us. I glanced down at the little boy who kept pulling on my arm to go the other way.

"ROGUE! ROGUE!" He cried as he watched Gajeel punch the black haired man in the face. Rogue retaliated with a punch of his own, but it hardly seemed to phase the large man.

"Come on Frosche." Aries said gently. "But your big brother can take care of himself. There's no need to worry... I'm sorry!" She too kept glancing back, cringing when Leo went down.

….

The boys stumbled into my room a while later, stony faced.

"Those assholes!" Sting grumbled, holding ice over a black eye. Rogue nodded in agreement.

"We were outnumbered. It wasn't fair." He said. "I can't BELIEVE Gajeel pulled a knife on me. He sighed, then glanced at me. "Erza had you. What happened? I was sure that you were going to get kicked or something." Leo sat next to Aries on my bed, and Loke sat next to him. The two had several bruises, but nothing major.

"She let me go because she didn't want to risk hurting Frosche." I said quietly. Leo nodded slowly.

"She's always had a soft spot for kids. That makes sense..." He said. I heard the door open and close downstairs. Then the ddoor open and close downstairs. Then the deep voice of Laxus bellow:

"STING! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" He yelled angrily. The blonde gulped.

"Uh oh... Think he heard about the-" He didn't have time to finish his sentence before my door opened. My oldest brother (man it was weird calling him that...) stood in the entrance, a dark cloud seeing to hand over him.

"You started a brawl?!" He growled. Sting paled.

"N-N-No! Natsu started it! Laxus they were calling Lucy a-"

"I don't care what they were calling Lucy!" He snapped. "You shouldn't sink to their level! Look what happened to you! Do you really think that Lucy would listen to that dumbass?!" He scolded. I had never seen Laxus as the fatherly type. But right then and there he looked like he was chastising a young child.

"I'm sorry! I just-"

"You're grounded." He said flatly. The rest of us had been dead silent through all of this, not wanting to be at the receiving end of Laxus's fury. Sting scowled, but nodded.

"Fine."

"As for the rest of you, I'm sorry that Sting put you all through that." He said cooly. Then his eyes drifted to a ag in my hand. "What's that?"

"Uh... We picked up lunch... Anybody still hungry?" I joked with a weak smile. The tension and Awkward silence was broken by Aries giggling. She held her stomach in mirth, tears coming to her eyes.

"I'm sorry! But you should see your faces!" She laughed. I looked around at everyone, expressions all very serious as we all stared at the bag of subs. Gradually her laughter caught until we were all struggling to breathe. The tension that had been contained in my gut since the first punch was thrown finally dissolving.

 **Hi! I'm ssooooooooo sorrrryyyyy! I KEEP PROCRASTINATING! On top of that I have writers block. I've been sitting here for three hours trying to write this... if it's horrible then I apologize. Please leave your reviews, it aLways makes me more eager to continue. and if there are any other stories that you want to be updated ASAP then mention them and I'll prioritize based on that. I'm trying though. SORRRYYYYY! ;-; I'm also trying to start an attack on titan X Fairytail but I can't seem to start it. So if any of you watch or read that too then It'll be coming soon if you wanna read it.**


	7. Erza

I hadn't heard from Natsu or his gang in several days. Apparently Natsu had broken his nose during the fight and he and his pals had backed off for the time being. I had made up a resume over the last week using some strange device called a computer. It was like Hibiki's archive magic, but anyone could use it. It was actually really really cool! Once I had it typed out I used something called a printer to make a few copies. Sure enough within a few days I was employed.

I walked in for my first day, wearing my uniform (an orange dress that was way too short if you asked my opinion, stockings, and high heeled shoes), and walked to the back of the small café. My boss Mr. Yajima (who was just as kind as the one in Magnolia, and a friend of headmaster Makarov. My grandpa) was at a meeting today, so my manager would be showing me the ropes. Lauren caught my attention as she took orders in the same outfit that I did, getting some vulgar comments thrown her way due to the.. er... revealing. nature of the outfit. It was odd, she seemed more quiet than usual, her smile forced. I was still in wonder at how much she looked like my hallucination... but I dismissed the thought as she walked over to me, not making eye contact as her long pigtails bounced down to her waist.

"The manager's in the back." She said quietly, pointing to a swinging door that led to the kitchen. I frowned at her expression, but discovered the cause soon enough. When I walked through the door, a familiar redhead was making up the strawberry cakes for the shop. I froze.

"Erza..." I whispered. Never in my life did I ever imagine that I would be afraid of the knight. I mean, Everyone was afraid of Erza but... not like this. She turned and glared at me.

"Lucy. So you're the one that Yajima-san hired." She said cooly. I noticed a faint bruise on her jaw where I had punched her.

"Y-Y-Yes ma'am..." I said quietly, looking down as she straightened up and dried off her hands. She walked over to me and I shrunk away slightly. She crossed her arms in front of me, somehow making our ridiculous uniform look intimidating.

"Was your little friend alright? Did he escape unscathed?" She asked, concern evident in her voice. I nodded slowly.

"Frosche is fine. He was scared out of his wits, but he's okay." I said quietly. Erza seemed to relax.

"Good." She turned away from me and returned to placig the strawberries.

"You'll be helping make the coffee and sweets back here with me for today. Then Yajima-san can give you a more specific job when he returns." She said, the gentleness in her voice hardening again. I nodded, checking a cookbook for instructions as I began putting together a recipe for cinnamon buns. 7

Erza and I worked in an awkward silence until eventually a couple of hours later I couldn't take it anymore.

"Erza why do you hate me?" I asked quietly, not looking up as I kneaded dough. "What did I do to you?" I didn't get an immediate response and looked over to her. Her hands clenched the edge of the table.

"It's not what you did to me. It's what you did to Natsu." She said angrily, glaring at the hardwood. I blinked in shock.

"Natsu? What did I do to Natsu?" I asked, genuinely confused. "I thought he was the one that had done horrible things to me..."

"You were asking for it you blonde bitch." She snapped, turning a gaze on me that sent a tingle down my spine. "You know you spread that rumor!"

"Rumor? What rumor?!" I asked nervously. Erza snorted.

"I can't believe that you're pretending not to remember. _Did you hear? Natsu Dragneel tried to molest Lucy Heartfilia! It's probably because his dad touched him. I bet that's why his dad doesn't live with him_. I bet social services took him away!" Erza glared at me. "That rumor destroyed his life. And we all know who started it."

"But I didn't-"

"Who else could it have been? Whoever it was let out a lot of really private information about him! Information that only one person knew. You. After all of that, you didn't even have the nerve to look him in the eye. You cut him off. Went from a nerd to miss popular. I liked you. Everyone did. But after I saw what you did to Natsu who's like a little brother to me, I couldn't bear to be in the same room as a twisted human being like you. He was so upset that he became violent towards you. He began lashing out. He got a lot stronger. And believe me when I say that you deserve everything that he has planned for you. Every. Last. Thing. Because Natsu the Dragon Dragneel is what you made him. He's a kinds and caring person. You just pushed him too far."

"But he isn't." I said quietly.

"What?! How dare-"

"Natsu would have hurt Frosche without hesitation."

"No he wouldn't have! Natsu would never harm an innocent child!" She defended, clearly getting angry at my accusation.

"Really? Then how many kids have you actually seen him hurt?" I asked.

"You and you alone." She said angrily. I began to think to myself. So... He didn't trust Erza to remain loyal if she knew that he hurt people who did nothing wrong...

"What about Lauren?"

"The shy waitress?" She asked, seeming to be taken by surprise. "What about her?"

"Natsu branded me." The small girl said quietly, entering the room with a tray of dishes.

"Wh-what?!" The redhead gasped as Lauren pulled up her skirt, revealing the blackened skin of her brand, tears springing to her eyes.

"He... He pinned me to the floor. I was screaming. crying... begging...But he didn't listen to me..." Her voice was hardly above a whisper. "They held Lucy back so that she would watch as I suffered... Gajeel handed him that burning pole and I knew what was coming. He said that it was meant for Lucy but Id be taking her punishment instead if I was so tough..." The tears flower freely down her face. "He held it there for a minute. An entire. Minute..." She broke down after that, unable to continue. I ran over and held her up, staring at Erza sadly.

"Is this really why you fight for Natsu?" I asked quietly. Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"I-I didn't know!"She tugged at her hair, seeming extremely conflicted. Then her expression darkened. "Natsu has some explaining to do. Now the both of you get back to work!"

"Yes ma'am!" We squeaked nervously, rushing out of the room and leaving Erza pacing alone in the back room.

 **Okay so short chapter because I was bored. Special shout out to all you guys who I keep getting recurring comments from, I really appreciate it! Diamonszzz123 I thank you for your kind words, but yu flatter me. I'm not that great. and also thanks P3pp3rmintt for the inspiration for this chapter. I encourage you guys to keep leaving reviews and I love you all!**

 **"You getting all sentimental on me? I may cry."**

 **Shut up Gray -.-**


	8. Dear Mom

_Dear Mom,_

 _It's been five weeks since I first woke up in that hospital. I still have no idea what to think. Is everything even real? Will I ever feel as happy as I did in Magnolia? Not to say that I don't like the friends that I have in this world... I mean, I love Gray and Zeref and Lauren and Levy... all of them... But I miss Natsu and Happy. I miss the stupid bar fights. I miss going on jobs, I miss the magic. I still try to practice magic in my bedroom at night. What else can I do?! My magic would mean that everything I once knew had actually existed... I finally found my keys. They were locked in an old trunk in the attic in a box with my name on it. Apparently they were part of a rare collector set. The first three I got from you; Cancer, Aquarius, and Capricorn. The rest of them I had collected over the years. It was actually how I had met my friend Yukino. We had gotten chatting at school and she mentioned that she had Libra and Pisces along with the ultra rare thirteenth key. Ironic how similar that is to how I think I me her huh?_

 _Erza confronted Natsu and got him to admit that he had been beating on innocent people. I'll never forget the look on her face as she stormed out of the cafeteria that day with actual tears rolling down her cheeks. Erza. Titania. Had locked herself on the roof and refused to come down she was so ashamed of whom she'd been supporting with her strength, the people that she had indirectly harmed by her refusal to stand up to him. The only person that she'd actually talk to was Jellal, who had gotten expelled from the school two years prior to date from assault charges._

 _When he had finally calmed her enough to regain her composure, she walked back into the room, the soft clinking of her metal armor was the only sound in the room as everyone went dead silent. If a pin had dropped just then, it would have sounded like a gunshot. She paused as she passed Natsu's table, the two locking eyes for a good ten seconds as a silent battle of wills raged between them... I've never seen anything like it before._

 _After the ten seconds of held breaths had passed, Natsu's gaze fell. A triumphant Erza walked to the table with me and my friends and began to eat her cake, not saying a word to any of us as she did._

 _I know that you're probably worried about me as you look down on me from heaven. I can't say that I blame you, but I promise that eventually I'll be okay... Hey mom? Can I tell you something personal? I think I've found out why I got so upset to find out that Natsu wasn't who I thought he was... What if he was more than my best friend? I know how crazy it sounds. Trust me, I know... But right before I was stabbed... I'd been feeling strange around him lately. I was always blushing, my skin would tingle, I'd always want to be close to him... Those are the feelings of a friend right? Right?! Maybe I'm just looking into this too much... Probably. It wouldn't be the first time. Like that time Mirajane made me doubt everything about his actions! Now THAT was awkward! And the whole time all he wanted was for me to summon Virgo to dig up some stupid box. I wish I could talk to you in person about it but... I just thought that maybe if I told you then that would get it off my chest you know?_

 _I know that this letter is longer than my usual ones, but I haven't written you in a while. I have a lot to tell. My stupid hallucination won't leave me alone... I keep trying to do everything that I can to ignore her but I don't know how! It's driving me insane! Every morning I wake up to see her watching me, she appears randomly throughout the day, chattering away like she was real. Every night when go to bed she appears there by the bedside and -get this- she sings me lullabies! I don't understand it... I went online and did some research about schizophrenia. It seems like it can be inherited genetically, but neither you nor father had it so I don't think that's the case. It can be developed over time as well even though that's less likely, apparently the loss of a loved one at an early age can factor into it as well. But I'm still if-y about it... Definitely going to keep the whole schizophrenic thing in mind. It would definitely explain some of the madness I'm going through right now. I'm kind of scared to be perfectly honest. What if I AM going crazy? Should I tell someone? Do something? Tell her to get lost?_

 _But don't worry about me mom. I'll work through whatever it is. I promise. I'm going to be strong just like Natsu. He wouldn't let something like this get him down. He'd tell me that crazy people were more fun, grab my hand, and drag me along as he charged into something absolutely insane with Happy yelling "Aye Sir!" I'll write again real soon okay? I miss you._

 _Love,_

 _Lucy_

I clenched the page in my hands, my hands shaking as my eyes scanned over the photocopy of what was unmistakably my writing. My hair fell into my face to hide my expression from the world, but my tears staining the blank white page could not be hidden as the whispers all around threatened to suffocate me.

"Schizo."

"Freak."

"Seeing things? What's next? Is she going to shoot up the school or something?"

"I always knew that there was something wrong with her."

"What a loser."

"Lucy..."

"What do you want?" I croaked, not looking up as a cool hand touched my shoulder.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here." What was unmistakably Sting's voice said as he put an arm around me, leading me towards the doors.

My letters.

More private than any diary that I'd ever written. Those letters were something that were never supposed to be read. The conversations that my mother and I could never have. I poured my soul into those letters. And now they were all floating around the school. My darkest fears, my darkest secrets, things that I never wanted anyone to know what I was thinking. And of course... My suspicions of losing my mind. There were ten different letters all in all. And each student had a copy of at least one of them in their hands, texts were going off through the hallways as my various flaws were being spread like wildfire.

My body trembled as people giggled, my eyes wide with shock. I felt exposed. Like someone had stripped me naked and opened me up, pulling out my insides for everyone to see. No...It was worse than even that.

"Move." I heard my older brother's voice growled. I raised my head, my bloodshot brown eyes meeting his onyx ones as he gave me an evil grin.

"Shouldn't you say please?" He smirked, spinning the key to the copy room around his finger.

…...

"Do you want to talk?" Sting asked gently, resting his hand over mine. I shook my head, saying nothing as I picked at my pasta. Despite my protests, Sting had taken me out for something to eat in an attempt to settle my clenching stomach.. We sat in Yajima's restaurant where I normally worked. My boss had kindly given us our lunch on the house due to my recent good work. I eventually gave up on trying to make it seem like I was going to eat it, shoving the plate aside.

"Lucy I-"

"Sting just don't." I said quietly. "There's nothing to say."

"Of course there is! Natsu's a dumbass! Don't take this to-"

"Heart? Sting he read something that I wouldn't let ANYONE read. Something so personal that no one even knew that it existed! He was in my ROOM! He's probably ruined any chance at a relatively normal life that I had and you're telling me not to take it to heart?!"

"Lucy I know that you're upset but he's just another jerk."

"You don't understand Sting. That was more private than anything else. And I don't know if I can pick myself back up after this!" I sniffled, tears beginning to leak out. The blonde stood from his chair and slid into the booth next to me, hugging my head to his chest as I sobbed in such a Natsu-like gesture that my heart wrenched and the tears wouldn't cease as I clung to him like a lifeline. He rested his chin on my head and murmured reassurances as I felt his earring brush against my head. "I just want to go home..." I whimpered.

"I know. Laxus is on his way to pick us up." He said gently.

But that wasn't what I meant of course.

"Okay." I whispered, hugging my brother tightly. It was scary how used I was getting to calling him that...

"It'll be okay Lu. We're all right here with you."

"Thank you."

…...

As soon as we got home I ran up to my room, locking the door behind me as I slumped against the wall. Plue and Lector ran over and jumped into my lap, barking and meowing loudly. I hugged them tightly, burying my face in their soft fur. my radio played softly from where I'd left it, I listened to the song as it played, trying to take my mind off the battle raging inside my mind.

 **You and I walk a fragile line**

 **I have known it all this time**

 **But I never thought I'd live to see it break**

 **It's getting dark and it's all too quiet**

 **And I can't trust anything now**

 **And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake**

 **Oh, I'm holding my breath**

 **Won't lose you again**

 **Something's made your eyes go cold**

 **Come on, come on, don't leave me like this**

 **I thought I had you figured out**

 **Something's gone terribly wrong**

 **You're all I wanted**

 **Come on, come on, don't leave me like this**

 **I thought I had you figured out**

 **Can't breathe whenever you're gone**

 **Can't turn back now, I'm haunted**

 **Stood there and watched you walk away**

 **From everything we had**

 **But I still mean every word I said to you**

 **He will try to take away my pain**

 **And he just might make me smile**

 **But the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead**

 **Oh, I'm holding my breath**

 **Won't see you again**

 **Something keeps me holding on to nothing**

 **Come on, come on, don't leave me like this**

 **I thought I had you figured out**

 **Something's gone terribly wrong**

 **You're all I wanted**

 **Come on, come on, don't leave me like this**

 **I thought I had you figured out**

 **Can't breathe whenever you're gone**

 **Can't turn back now, I'm haunted**

 **I know, I know, I just know**

 **You're not gone. You can't be gone. No.**

 **Come on, come on, don't leave me like this**

 **I thought I had you figured out**

 **Something's gone terribly wrong**

 **Won't finish what you started**

 **Come on, come on, don't leave me like this**

 **I thought I had you figured out**

 **Can't breathe whenever you're gone**

 **Can't go back, I'm haunted**

 **Oh**

 **You and I walk a fragile line**

 **I have known it all this time**

 **Never ever thought I'd see it break.**

 **Never thought I'd see it...**

As usual, this strangely convenient and relatable song got me thinking... I hadn't... I hadn't lost the Natsu that I knew and loved forever had I? There had to be a way to get him back... there just had to. that bond that we had was made of steel. There was no way to break us apart.

I never thought I'd see it break.

I swear I'll never see it.

 **Okay, so a nice long chapter to make up for my absence. In my defense, I have been working 6 days a week... and I started watching both Soul Eater and Death Note so I'm busy with fandom stuff. Anyway I actually did some research on the Schizophrenia thing since that particular disorder fascinates me along with Multi personality disorder (or as I like to call it, multi soul syndrome) Long story short I've been sitting at my desk for the last three hours destroying my ears with music to try and write this. Please leave your reviews in the comments, as usual I always love your feedback ;) The song was "Haunted" By Taylor Swift! Love you guys! Peace out! *throws down smoke ball and green smoke fills the area that clears just in time for me to be seen running out the door***


	9. Believe? Not anymore

"Lucy I'm going to school!" Sting called from downstairs, his voice hesitant. I hadn't come out of my room since the letters had gotten out. Not even for food or water. Laxus simply left my meals outside the door and let me reach out and get them whenever the house was empty.

I didn't respond to my older brother, hugging my pillow close to my chest where I lay in bed. It may have seemed a bit childish... but those letters described everything. How I was unsure of how my relationship with Sting and Laxus could be possible, how I still thought that it may be some kind of joke, memories of Magnolia... everything that I'd been feeling, depressed thoughts... what would the two blondes think if they ever read it? I didn't know. But for the time being, all I wanted to do was forget that any of this had ever happened. I wanted to be able to walk into that school with my head held high. A great ambition, but unfortunately people had a habit of remembering things that were better forgotten.

Eventually I got an idea. Something that may lift my spirits. I uncapped a marker and walked to a whiteboard on a section of my wall, beginning to write. The words traced a series of neat red lines in my graceful handwriting, the letters curving and looping as I began to smile. What had begun was a story. Leave it to creativity to make me feel even the slightest bit better. After a few minutes the whiteboard had filled completely and I walked to my desk, continuing the tale on paper as my pen (shaped like a quill) seemed to fly across the page. The plot thickened, sentences formed themselves as page after page of a different world began to pile up beside me.

 _Long ago, the world was dark. It's the year 3056. Humanity has fallen. The surface of the world has been destroyed by the advancement of technology. All of the gasses, radiation, pollution, it became too much. Humans became incredibly greedy and began slaughtering one another left and right for anything that they could get their hands on. There was much destruction... So much destruction... The sun had been shadowed by the smoke that choked out the sky and swallowed the planet like a great smothering blanket. There was nothing left. Everything had been razed into ash. There was no sun. No stars. No moon. Only the crushing weight of darkness as the earth itself died._

 _It was like this for many years. Silent. Alone. Absolute nothing._

 _This wasn't what I had wanted. When I created this Earth it was so that my children, all that which lives, could live in peace and harmony. Never have I been more wrong. I have been called many names over the millenia. God, Iris, Athena, Allah, Krishna, and thousands of others. But when one believes, it matters not what they call me. Only that they have faith in me. My true name is Alm'hart. I'm known to few as Alma. This world was my creation. And so too was it my mistake... I wept my tears, shimmering droplets striking the Barren ground for all that I believed to be lost._

 _Until one day..._

 _From the ashes, a small flame bloomed. It was not my doing, but from the wetted ground where one of my tears had fallen, a light no larger than a candle flickered and danced, growing and glowing brighter and brighter until emerged a man with hair in brilliant strands of red and gold, shining like the sun as he inhaled with a gasp, orange eyes more radiant than the sun flashed open, casting light upon the ground. More flames blossomed into men and woman of the same appearance, each with wings of blazing fire. Although weak and confused, they were alive. My firstborn. The Phoenix. Wielders of the art of fire they had been reborn from the ashes. Just as an element never truly ceases it's cycle._

 _Next came the breath of the land. Bathed in the warmth of light a small flower pushed its way through the cracks of the debris, followed by a great rumble. A powerful earthquake caused spires of rock to reach towards the sky, topsoil pouring down as mighty trees grew within seconds. From within the trees emerged several graceful creatures, silken silver hair and long flowing tails brushed behind them. Each with piercing eyes and long pants and dresses of green. Each with a glowing golden horn protruding from the center of their foreheads. The unicorns. Pale skin made them look delicate, but their power was undeniable from the aura surrounding them. My second born._

 _Third came a wild breeze, fueling the flames of the Phoenix to blaze brighter, and the plants of the earth to grow healthier. Carried on the wind was the sound of wild chatter, exclamations of joy and excitement as my third born children returned. The Sylphs. Air nymphs. Each was nearly transparent, their clothes formed from the wind and clouds themselves as they danced and whirled through the open air, singing and laughing As they drunk up their freedom, wings like fairies adorning their backs._

 _The last to emerge were my fourth born. Controllers of the element of water. When the earth was destroyed, the sea had dried up, but my tears over the destruction had once again filled the salty oceans blue. The first head breached the surface and inhaled deeply, followed by hundreds of others. Beneath the waves was a shimmer and glow of every colour as the scales of mer tails shattered light into the dark water. Men and women of every race and skin tone, hair or eye colour. They wore no clothing, but were not ashamed of such. Their extravagant beauty and musical allure was more than enough to draw attention away from something like clothes._

 _My children were alive and for an entire year, there was peace. One by one, I created new animals to walk the earth beside them, nurturing each with care. I tended to my children with all the love of a mother... But then... Everything changed. The elemental kingdoms began fighting against one another, believing that one element should rule over all the rest, but it was not to be so. The elements were created to balance one another, none to be the stronger. To this day, the war rages on. And the light of a new generation begins._

Hours passed, the sun moved across the sky until I heard a tap on my window. Pulled from my trance like state of writing I glanced over to see that there was no one in the tree beside my window. Frowning in confusion I stood and walked over, glancing down to see if it was a bird or something. When I opened the pane, I got hit in the forehead with a pebble the size of my thumbnail. "OW!" I yelped, taking a step back.

"You weren't supposed to hit her with the rock!"

"SORRY!" A timid voice squeaked, when I looked out my window once more, the twins, Aries, and Gray stood at the bottom, looking up at me expectantly.

"What are you guys doing here?" I called down, frowning in confusion. Why had they come?

"School is boring without you there. We had planned to go to the beach or something to pass the time. Wanna join us?" The raven haired man called up. To no surprise, Gray was already in his underwear. I couldn't help but wonder if he got some kind of pleasure from being naked... Maybe it was just entertaining.

"Sure... I'd like that." I said after a moment's hesitation. "Just uh... Let me get my swimsuit and I'll be right down!" I called.

"Sure! See you in a few minutes!" They grinned, high fiving happily. Aries yelped as the boys began to wrestle and jostle around after a high five that had gone a bit awry and hit Leo in the face. I couldn't help but laugh as I ran back into my room, getting my stuff together into a bright pink duffle bag, pulling on my swimsuit under my clothes, and grabbing drinks from the fridge before dashing out the door. It was amazing really. How something as simple as writing words onto a page could lift the weight of my problems for my shoulders. I guess it was simply my version of therapy or something. Maybe I'd bring it up with the therapist when I saw her again this week, the one helping me rehabilitate after waking up.

"Ready to go?" Called the voices from outside.

"Ready!" I called, turning off my desk lamp and glancing at the fairy tale that I had begun to write. I really did love fiction, maybe that's how my dream had ended up so crazy. The thought amused me as I shut my door and ran to join the others with a loose tank top and jean shorts over my bathing suit. "Let's go!"

… **...**

The beach was relatively empty for the afternoon, I lay on a towel with my eyes closed with a content sigh. I felt... SO much better thanks to the relaxation. My hair was up in a messy bun that went well with my white two piece, pink flowers on my left breast. The sand had just begun to cool from the setting sun and the waves lapped gently across the shore as a cool breeze blew through the area, signaling the approach of autumn weather in a week or so. It was a shame that the summer heat was coming to an end, but I guess it wasn't so bad. Halloween was coming up and I had to choose a costume at some point. I had an idea, but wasn't sure if I could do it yet. I'd need some sewing materials...

"Lucy. Fancy meeting you here." Came a voice. I cracked one eye open to see the silhouette of Erza looming over me on the towel. A lazy smile worked its way onto my face.

"Oh hey." I yawned, sitting up. "I came with them." I said, gesturing to Leo, Loke, and Gray who were fooling around in the surf while Aries read a book beside me. She had remained silent since noticing the knight. Despite Erza's change of heart, I knew that my friend was still somewhat frightened of her. After all, to Aries, anyone took some getting used to no matter who you were. After a moment I took note of a man beside my new/old friend. He had a scarf wrapped around his face, but his blue hair and the hint of a red tattoo under his eye was what gave him away. "… Jellal?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Both of them paled visibly as Erza shot to standing up straight.

"Y-you know who he is?!" Erza gasped. I nodded.

"Well yeah. Why? Am I not supposed to know?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. Aries tugged on my arm, looking nervous.

"Lucy... If that guy's really Jellal... he's wanted for murder in ten different cities... He's an escaped convict Lucy... I'm sorry but... is that really him?" She asked quietly, half hiding behind me as the boys began to troop from the water and walk towards us. Okay. Time for some quick thinking.

"… No. My bad." I said, sending the two of them a look that clearly said 'play along' "Mystogan it's nice to see you again. Still look like that asshole eh?" I asked in false sympathy. After a moment of confusion he nodded slowly.

"Yes... unfortunately I must still hide my face from the public on account of the uncanny resemblance. It's quite the shame since I can't even treat Erza to a restaurant as a normal teen would." He sighed, his lying skills (of course) flawless. Erza took his hand, tryig to act natural as she nodded.

"Secluded beaches are fine too of course, I enjoy sitting by the ocean." She smiled. But glanced at the lion twins and Gray who had gotten closer with their laughter reaching their ears. I could tell that the oys wouldn't take an excuse like that. Erza must have known it too as she said goodbye and walked off. I smiled as she leaned her head on Jellal's shoulder. Honestly. The romance that they had no matter what the world or reality. It was almost like a dream. He was her prince charming. Like a fairy tale.

 _But I don't believe in fairy tales..._ if Fairy tale endings existed, I wouldn't be here. I'd be home where I belonged. My friends... My nakama... should have saved me from being stabbed and waking in this strange place but they didn't. _So no. I don't believe in fairy tales._

 _I don't believe in Fairytail._

"Lucy come on! Sting wants you home for dinner!" Leo called, interrupting the wrenching pain in my chest. Whe I heard his voice, a small smile made its way onto my face.

"Coming!" I called, grabbing my stuff and taking off across the sand.

And for the first time in a two months...

I didn't try to use magic that night.

 **Hey peeps. I don't know if any of you read my other fic, The Goblet of Fairy Fire, if not then I'm letting you know that I started school today and as such am getting back on track now that I have some structure back in my life that I didn't have in the summertime. I've written into my calendar when I plan to update each story and will hopefully stick to it. As usual, please leave reviews, I always love hearing your feedback! I love you guys and all the support that you give and hope that you're as happy with me as I am that you guys keep on reading!**


	10. PrincessBlondie

_Princess_Blondie has signed on._

 _Stripper_King has signed on._

 _Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo has signed on._

 _Titania has signed on._

 _Wind_Reader has signed on._

 **Princess-Blondie** : _Okay okay, I got the text. What's so urgent that it couldn't wait until tomorrow Erza?_ I typed, the low light from my laptop illuminating my dark bedroom with a bluish glow. The shadows danced along the walls and soft music was playing from the headphones crammed into my ears. It's not like I had been sleeping or anything. I was up late writing a report for Mr. Justine aka. Freed. I had to write an essay about Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" on the theme of how nothing is ever as it seems. Five minutes ago I'd received an urgent message from my redhead friend to get online along with a chat room password. After signing in and opening the chat, my other friends' screen names began to pop up.

 **Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo** : _I was sleeping too... do you have any idea how scary it is to wake up to the Jurassic Park theme song blaring in your ears at 1am?! need to change my ringtone for you Erza..._ Lauren's response popped up on the screen. I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear as I giggled softly. Of course it'd be Jurassic park she loved that movie when I went to see it with her a couple weeks ago. The dinosaurs had made her eyes sparkle like nothing I'd ever seen. (besides Gray and whenever she was around kids)

 **Stripper_King** : _She gets the Jurassic Park song? Then what's my ringtone?_

 **Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo:** _…... It may or may not be "Calling All the Monsters"…_

 **Stripper_King** : _What? No way! Why don't I get a cool song?!_

 **Titania** : _That isn't the point Gray!_ The redhead typed.

 **Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo:** _:3_

 **Wind_Reader** : _Can we get back to Lucy's question and not argue about Lauren's ringtones?!_ I could almost hear Levy's exasperation from here. I pictured the bluenette pressing her palm to her face and sighing deeply as she often did back in my dream whenever she was dealing with Gajeel.

 **Titania:** _It was the only time that he could get online. After Natsu fell asleep_.

 **Princess_Blondie** : _Who?_ I typed suspiciously, curious as to who might be living with Natsu. He didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be living with his parents. Didn't really strike e as someone to be in a serious relationship to stay with a lover either... For some reason the thought of Natsu having a girlfriend (or boyfriend for that matter) made my heart sink in my chest.

 _Aye_Sir! Has joined the chat._

 **Aye_Sir!:** _Is this working? Testing? Fish fishy wingfish... Charla 1 2 3?_

 **Princess_Blondie** : _HAPPY?!_ I stared at his screen name. Who else could it possibly be? So he wasn't an ordinary house cat like Lector... then he was Natsu's little brother like Frosche was to Rogue?!

 **Wind_Reader** : _Happy! So good to hear from you! Didn't you go to stay with your grandmother in Oregon?_ Levy typed quickly in response.

 **Aye_sir** : _LUSHIIIII! YOU'RE AWAKE! THEY SAID YOU WERE BUT I WASN'T SURE!_

 **Stripper_King** : _Happy your caps lock is stuck again_.

 **Aye_Sir** : _IS NOT!... OKAY MAYBE. HOW DO I TURN IT OFF AGAIN?_

 **Princess_Blondie** : _Press the caps lock key on the left of the keyboard_. I giggled softly, then pulling out my headphones and listening to make sure that Laxus was still asleep. Sting was okay with me being up late, my eldest brother on the other hand would probably take away my laptop privileges for a week... My attention was drawn back to the screen by another message flashing

 **Titania** : _Tell them what you told me Happy. What's going on?_

 **Aye_Sir** : _I don't have the specifics, but I think there's something with Natsu..._

 **Stripper_King** : _You mean besides the fact that he's an abusive bastard that picks on the weak?_

 **Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo** : _Gray be nice... As much as Natsu isn't exactly... kind... He's still a human being. What's wrong Happy? Has he upset you in some way?_

 **Stripper_King** : _He branded you!_

 **Titania** : _Be quiet Gray. Go on Happy._

 **Aye_Sir** : _He's been drinking... Guys I know he's not your friend or anything, but I am right? I got home yesterday and the house smells like booze. He didn't hit me or anything, he's not usually violent, but he didn't even say hello when I got back... I'm scared for him._ I could hear his voice in the back of my mind and frowned sadly at how upset he must have been feeling. I didn't know this new Natsu very well, I had assumed that he'd be the type to drink all the time. But Happy made it sound as though it were a new thing. Something that shouldn't have been happening.

 **Wind_Readers** : _Oh Happy... I'm so sorry to hear that..._

 **Stripper_King** : _I thought he was non-alcoholic or something after your dad got taken by social services for his drinking problems?_ Gray responded quickly. _I know that Natsu and I aren't on good terms, but we are neighbors after all. I heard him say that to you_.

 **Aye_Sir** : _He did! Something must be really wrong if he started again!_

 **Titania** _: I could try to figure out what it is for you. Erza suggested. Although it's been clear that Natsu no longer wants anything to do with me since I left, I'm still on good terms with Wendy, Gajeel, Juvia, and the others of his group._

 **Wind_Reader** : _That sounds like a good idea Erza. Is there anywhere that you can go until then Happy?_

 **Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo** : _He can spend the night with me. I have extra space in my room, I'll sleep on the floor and he can take my bed._

 **Wind_Reader** : _Are you sure?_

 **Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo** : _Of course. Happy is always welcome with me :)_

 **Titania** : _Tomorrow we'll all start trying to sort this mess out. Don't worry Happy, we'll do everything that we can to help you._

 **Aye_Sir** : _Thanks everyone. I guess I'll pack a bag then..._

 **Princess_Blondie** : _Don't worry Happy. We'll figure it out._ I spoke as I typed, hearing the sadness in my own words. Maybe... Maybe I should try talking to Natsu directly after school tomorrow...

 **Stripper_King** : _Hey did we have homework?_

 _Titania has signed off._

 _Aye_Sir has signed off._

 _Wind_Reader has signed off._

 _Girl_With_The_Dragon_Tattoo has signed off._

 **Stripper_King** : _OH COME ON!_

 _Stripper_King has signed off._

 _Princess_Blondie has signed off._

I smiled as I half closed the lid of my computer with a yawn. It was no use, any further work on my essay would only be counter-productive I was so tired. I'd continue tomorrow. We had a week to get it done after all. The thought of Natsu drinking stayed fresh in my mind as I brushed my teeth in the bathroom, looking in the mirror for a moment before rinsing and walking back out to bed. I couldn't help but wonder what it was that had caused him to lose his grip like that. If he'd really promised Happy that he wouldn't drink, then why would he do it? I knew that alcoholism could run in families, but that would be all the more reason for him to avoid the stuff... A small idea began to spring forth in my mind.

Halloween was just around the corner. Apparently Loke and Leo were throwing a huge bash where everyone in the school was invited. Including Natsu. IF I could get a good enough costume to get close to him... maybe disguised my voice... then maybe, just maybe, I could ask him what was on his mind.

And maybe, just maybe, He'd answer.

 **Hi guys. Sorry again for the delay. I've had rugby every single day and I've been swamped in homework. I hate to say it, but school takes priority over fanfiction (crazy right?) anyways, I thought that I'd try something new by using the chat room for the majority of this chapter. Sorry if it sucked but update soon!**


	11. Costumes

Halloween was drawing near. The leaves on the trees had begun changing to vibrant shades of red and yellow, swirling in the autumn breeze as I waited in the park for the girls. As I looked around past the kids playing on the swings and in the sandbox, I even noticed a couple of jack-O-lanterns on the doorsteps of those who lived nearby. Sharp fangs carved into the pumpkin skin, and cliché triangular eyes. It was a crisp morning, frost clung to each blade of grass like a blanket of silver and my breath came out in short white puffs. Admittedly I did pretend to be a train as I walked down here. Shut up.

I don't know what it is, but there's always been a certain smell to autumn. Don't call me crazy because it's true. I don't know exactly what it is, but that smell was strong in the air this morning. That combined with the steam coming of the pumpkin spice latte in my hands created the perfect fall setting. Perfect for costume shopping with Erza and Virgo.

Aries would have come along with us, but she had already bought a lamb costume to go along with Leo's lion costume (could it get any more origional?). Anyhow. That's how I ended up here in the first place.

"Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Luuuuuuccccccyyyyyyy." My hallucination. In case you hadn't realized, she... it's... gotten bolder. Currently she was poking my arm over and over again trying to get me to acknowledge her presence. "Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. C'mon. I'm not going to tell you who I am until you start listening. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lu. Lu. Lu. Lu. Lu. Lu. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy."

"Lucy!"

"WHAT?!" I finally snapped, wheeling on my friends who both took a step back in surprise.

"There's no need for aggression." Erza said sternly, waving one gloved hand at me. The redhead had a coat the colour of Jellal's hair wrapped tightly around her. The cuffs and neckline both had faux fur, as did fluffy purple earmuffs on her ears. It was rather early in the year for it, but with the overcast of clouds today, the weather forecast was calling for a possible flurry of snow. It was odd, but Winter seemed to be approaching more rapidly than usual.

"Huh. Looks like Erza's all dressed up for the winter. Oops. My bad." The female figure beside me laughed softly, her eyes changing from light blue to a bloody red with dagger like pupils when she blinked. "But hey, that's just a side effect of being me."

"Don't pretend you're causing this." I muttered under my breath, to which she only snorted and swayed, face paling even more than her usual snow-white complexion as she fainted into oblivion.

"Did you say something princess?" Virgo asked, blinking her wide blue eyes. "You really shouldn't mumble, It isn't lady-like." Virgo was still in her usual maid dress, don't ask me how she could stand the cold because I have no Idea, but I suppose it was Virgo. Not much that she does tends to make any logical sense.

"No. It's nothing. I just forgot something at home is all." I lied smoothly before changing the subject. "Chilly weather today isn't it? I mean jeez. Especially for October!" I snuggled into the warmth of my coat to prove my point, taking a sip of my coffee. It was warm, hot really, and scalded my throat on the way down. Just how I liked it. I never even knew that pumpkin would be such a good flavour until Leo brought us all a drink from the café where he worked. Some place called Starbucks that for some reason seemed to attract a lot of teenage girls...

"It is rather cold. I just hope that this weather will pass on son enough to give us a little bit more sunlight before winter." Erza sighed. I couldn't help but agree. I'm not really a big fan of the cold. "In any case, we should get going before the good costumes have been picked over and only the skimpy ones are left behind."

"I would think that you'd want a skimpy costume seeing as your boyfriend will be attending the party." The maiden commented, looking up at my redheaded friend who had gone scarlet in the face, her cheeks burning.

"Wh-what?! Why would you think that?! I- I don't... I mean..." She stammered. I raised an eyebrow as we began walking down the pathway, leaves crunching under my ugg boots. She looked a bit like a tomato, especially since her hair matched her current skin tone perfectly.

"I think you should go for it Erza." I smirked. "I mean who knows? Tonight could be the night you get lucky? Does Jellal like a girl who puts out?" I teased lightly, bumping her with my shoulder. Virgo blinked her wide eyes slowly once again.

"Jellal? The criminal?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. Erza and I both paled as she simply nodded "I see... I once knew his brother Siegrain. And Mystogan. It was a shame when Sieg moved away and Mystogan began his travels."

"Wait. You're not going to call the police or anything?" I asked, mildly confused. The pinkette shook her head slowly, small earrings of stars jingling as she did.

"Oh goodness no. If Erza trusts him that's good enough for me. She has better judgment than most. I'll put my faith in her." She smiled, looking up at the clouds contently. "Besides. Is it really my place to judge who deserves to spend life in a metal container or not?"

"Well... no. I suppose it isn't. Thank you Virgo." Erza said, bowing slightly. Virgo simply waved it off with a small smile.

"Don't mention it."

….

We reached the mall a few minutes later, walking through the crowds to a small costume shop that I had been hearing some pretty good things about. As soon as I stepped inside, I found out why. The walls were lined with hundreds of different ideas and designs. There were cosplays from over a dozen animes, mummies, dragons, pirates, and there were also many punny costumes. I saw a belt with clocks on it labeled "A waist of time". There were boxes of breakfast cereal with knives and blood labeled "Cereal Killer!" and several others. I was in awe to say the least. I had no idea what to pick!"

"Well then. Looks like we'll have no shortage of choices." Virgo commented. "Perhaps I will go as a belly dancer. Not to brag, but I AM exemplary at an interpretive dance routine that was handed down through generations." I stared at her, trying to figure out whether or not she was serious when Erza's voice pulled me away from my train of thought.

"I like this one. I could be a vampiress." Erza was looking at a vampire costume on a rack that had a purple corset with black lace, fishnet stockings, a cloak, makeup, and fangs. It was, by all accounts, very slutty. I was afraid to say so of course since Erza seemed so intrigued, but just my luck. She came back.

"Oh please Erz." The faux Lauren sighed, leaning on Erza's shoulder. You were a vampire last year! And the year before that. And the year before that. Get more original, holy Hades girl. Honestly, at least I change it up!"

"Why don't you pick something else Erza?" I suggested, narrowing my eyes at the devil on her shoulder who only grinned at me, seeming very happy. Her form seemed to solidify a little bit more after I had taken her suggestion.

"See? Now we're getting somewhere! I can't help you until you let me in lu-chan. There are rules." She sighed, wavering and vanishing once more. "Rules." Her voice echoed. I shook my head to clear it. Ugh. I was going insane. There was no other possible excuse.

"Perhaps you're right. I was a vampire last year." The redhead agreed, setting the costume back on the shelf and continuing to browse. Eventually we all branched out a little bit, wandering around the shop to find costumes to try on. I passed over some of the costumes like a fairy or a princess. Too girly for Halloween night. Admittedly I loved horror novels. Back in the dreamland of Magnolia, in a box under my bed, were a dozen Stephen King books. Each had a worn out spine from being read and re-read over and over again. Of course, everyone that came over to my apartment would only see the fairy tales and romance books on my shelves, but I really wanted to write a horror/romance genre mash someday. One worthy of King's work.

I overlooked many of the female costumes given their somewhat revealing nature, eventually settling on two that had caught my eye. Rushing back through the store, I bumped into Erza and Virgo, both with costumes of their own. Erza, to my surprise, had selected a Scout Regiment uniform from the Attack on Titan anime series that I had begun to watch and read over the last couple of days. The TV series was quick to finish, but the plot of the manga only thickened as time went on. She even had the 3DMG gear equipped with swords. It looked so real that I almost wanted to ask if it worked.

Virgo had chosen a costume as a living marionette doll. There was makeup and instructions as to making her arms and legs look like they had hinges, false eyelashes, too bright contact lenses, string for her wrists and ankles to make it seem as though her strings had been cut, a black and white dress with a poofy black tutu, a dark wig, and fake blood splashed all over the clothes. It even came with a plastic knife. Given that Virgo's wide blue eyes were already a bit doll-like, the costume suited her perfectly.

I asked them both what they thought of the two costumes that I had chosen. Each was at least a little bit freaky but eventually I came to decision. I knew that the party was going to be interesting to say the least. My plan to talk to Natsu was being viewed as suicidal, but it was a risk that I was willing to take. The store was still buzzing with activity as we checked out, setting out our items on the checkout counter. The clerk was very friendly, making light conversation with us. As it turned out, this particular guy was also going to the same party with his girlfriend. There was something about him that was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it... Hm... Maybe it was nothing. I was certain that I'd seen him before. I think I'd remember someone that was missing one eye with purple hair like that. Eh, maybe I'd get talking to him at the party or something. His nametag read 'Erik' but that didn't sound familiar to me at all.

…

On the way home, a light flurry had begun to fall, the ground dusted with a thin layer of the silver flakes. I rubbed my arms subconsciously since it had become even colder than when we went inside. I pulled out my phone and began to text Sting. He had gotten his G2 license last week, and thus I could now get rides from him instead of always pestering Laxus.

-hey, can u pick us up at the mall?-

-Can't U walk? I'm busy.-

-pleeeeeeeease? It's cold :(-

-Ugh. Fine, I'll be there in a few okay? girls coming 2?-

-yeah-

-K-

Clicking the button on top of my phone, it closed and locked with a click. "He's coming." I informed my two companions, getting closer to the two of them for warmth. "So... what are Leo's parties like anyway?" I asked curiously, looking more to Virgo than Erza since he was Virgo's brother after all.

"Large. What I believe most people refer to as a "Kegger". There is often a lot of booze, a lot of dancing, and spare rooms available to public use." The maiden said thoughtfully, tapping her chin.

"It's actually a lot of fun Lucy, no need to worry." Erza smiled, giving my hair a slight ruffle. "Just don't challenge Cana to a game of shots, don't flirt with Loke, and avoid Natsu. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel better!" I said, but on the inside I was reminded of some of Fairytail's many different parties. Who knows? Maybe I'd even wake up hungover with another tattoo. What was the first one, you ask? Ask the fire dragon slayer Natsu Dragneel. We got the same one. now THAT was a wild night! I can't even remember what we were celebrating! Maybe a birthday or something?..." As a familiar car with a blonde in the front seat pulled up to the curb, I was wrenched from my thoughts with a smirk of amusement still tugging at my lips. "Come on guys. You're spending the night at my house." I laughed softly, opening the door and climbing into the shotgun seat.

 **It's 11:47 pm (23:47). I am exhausted. I'm mildly pissed given that my grandma made a weight comment without thinking at Thanksgiving dinner in front of my family that made me feel sick to my stomach, too sick to continue eating. I hadn't eaten all day. I'm still kind of hangry. If the chapter didn't make sense in some spots or had a couple of grammatical errors, you have my sincerest apologies, but I'm kind of out of it. Seriously I can barely keep my eyes open. Hopefully I'll update Goblet of Fairy Fire and Clash of the Genderbends tomorrow. If you're wondering why I always apologize in the author's note, it's because I'm Canadian. That's also why I had thanksgiving today rather than in November. I'm thankful for the support from all of you guys and want you to know that I love hearing the things that you guys have to say. Please leave your reviews in the comments and I'll see you next chapter.**


	12. Slayer of Natsu the Dragon

"….Woah."

Woah didn't even begin to describe it.

The house of the twins was huge! It wasn't the size of my 'father's' mansion from my dream, but still! Enormous! The lawn was covered with teenagers dancing and having fun. Everyone was in costume, most had a red solo cup in their hands, and a few had already passed out. The music was so loud that I could feel every beat making vibrations in the air. Lights pulsed and strobed from the inside and all around. Beside me, Erza simply nodded in agreement.

"I think you're right. Woah." She said thoughtfully, her attack on titan outfit was amazing. Straps hugged her legs to attach to 3D maneuvering gear, and the wings of freedom stood out proudly on her cloak. It was an awesome and very high quality replica that made her look as though she'd crawled out of the T.V show. I was impressed! My costume was of a much different nature. I wore a ragged dress, spindly legs attached to the sides along with a thin wispy train. My face had been paled and given tiny black marks to look like cracked porcelain, and my hands had tiny sewing needles attached to them. In my hands was a small doll with blue hair, a raincoat, and button eyes. Covering my own eyes were round glasses with buttons painted onto them, and I wore a short black wig to cover my blonde hair. I was the Beldam. The monster from Coraline.

Frankly I was proud of the costume. It was very elaborate for the price that I got it at. When I walked inside next to my redheaded friend, people cleared a path for my ghoulish appearance.

"Lucy! What's up?" Loke grinned, walking up to me dressed as Gandalf. "Nice costume!"

"Thanks!" I grinned back, looking around at the chaos in the crowded room. I had to yell just to be heard over the music. "And your parents just let you guys do this?!"

"No! Are you kidding?! My parents have no idea!" He laughed loudly. "They're in France!" I stared at him. He just had a party while his parents were... why doesn't this shock me?

"Well in any case, this is awesome!" Erza smiled brightly, looking out over the crowd to look for our friends. Or should I say HER friend. Her very good friend. Her very good blue-haired possibly a wanted criminal good friend. "Have you seen Lauren and Gray yet?" She asked absently.

"No. Either they're not here yet, they're making out somewhere, or I just haven't seen 'em." He said, shaking his head, fake beard swishing with him. "Want me to go look for them?"

"Don't bother." Erza replied, shaking her head. "I'll find them eventually, I just want to know what they dressed up as." Finally there was a flash of blue hair in the crowd and Erza's face lit up. "I'll see you both later, I see someone I know!" She called, already slipping through the crowd towards her boyfriend.

"And then there were two." I laughed softly, giving Loke a nudge.

"Then there were two." He agreed with a soft laugh. "Wanna dance?" He asked me, holding out his hand. I was about to take it when a flash of pink caught my eye. Pink spikey hair that is. Natsu. I shook my head quickly, preparing to put my plan into action.

"Actually, I see someone too if you'll excuse me." I said, not waiting for his reply before vanishing into the sea of people towards where I had seen him. Not surprisingly, he already seemed rather drunk. "Natsu." I said sweetly, hoping that he wouldn't recognize me. When he turned to look at me, he seemed mildly confused but not totally out of it... yet.

"What?" He muttered, taking a sip from his cup as he eyed me up, calculating whether or not I was any trouble or not. "Who are you?"

"Not important." I said airily, hoping that he wouldn't press the matter. He didn't.

"What do you want?" He asked grouchily.

"Oh just to talk. I'm new to the school and don't really know anyone yet..." I lied smoothly, tucking a strand of my face hair behind my ear. He seemed unamused, but relaxed a little.

"So you're new huh? Don't know who I am?" He asked softly, looking down into the brown liquid in his cup.

"Yeah. I only know that your name is Natsu. One of my friends told me." I nodded, watching his expression carefully. He nodded and we began making idle conversation. Nothing overly interesting until I began to press for the more personal stuff.

"So what's got you drinking? You don't look like the type to me." I said, looking at him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What kind of a question is that? I drink because I enjoy it." His eyes began flicking around the room absently and he began scratching the back of his neck.

"You're lying." I concluded. You're not meeting my eyes. That's a tell."

"Is it?"

"Yes. The truth please." I said gently, resting a hand on his arm. He seemed to relax into the touch. I couldn't help but wonder to myself just how long he had been without affection. With a soft sigh, he began to speak.

"Okay... So a long time ago some shit happened. I won't go into detail. But long story short, it's happening again. There's a girl who came back here and I never wanted to see her again. Now it's back to that hell. I guess you could say that I'm drinking with hopes of drowning in it..." He said softly. My eyes widened slightly. He was drinking because of me?! I swallowed thickly.

"Uh... What did the girl do?" I asked quietly.

"She let some really personal stuff about me slip. She's a bitch and I hate her. It's as simple as that." He growled under his breath, looking pointedly at me with a small spark of recognition in his eyes. It was clear that he had begun to get angry. Right... Time to go. I spun on my heel and began to walk away before he grabbed my arm and dragged me back into him. FUCK.

"Nice costume blondie." He hissed, yanking me back into him and tossing the wig I had been wearing to the floor, allowing my golden hair to fall down around my shoulders. "Do you really think I'm THAT gullible?!"

"I-I-I..." I stammered, trying to push him away, but the costume was much more restrictive of movement than I'd have liked. I couldn't twist or even really run as I was now.

"So what? You corner me while I'm drunk and try to get me to talk to you? Try to get me to give you some form of ammunition?!" He seemed to swell as his shouting gradually got louder, gnashing his teeth. Soon a group of his friends had gathered around him, making me feel even smaller as the back of his hand connected with my cheek and sent me seeing stars as I reeled from the impact. "You really are a bitch!" Natsu snarled, raising arm to hit me again before a pale hand caught his wrist. I glanced towards whomever was trying to help me and my jaw dropped.

"That's enough." Lauren said, dressed as Toothless with a cold look in her eye. Approaching through the crowd, Gray also seemed shellshocked. He was dressed as Hiccup. No more than 5'2, the black haired girl was giving Natsu a stare down to remember.

The pinkette seemed shocked that the shy girl even dared to approach him, releasing me in his shock and allowing me to stumble back. Into the arms of Gray who pulled me aside before moving towards his girlfriend urgently.

"You've got a lot of nerve to touch me!" Natsu snarled. "Do you need another branding to teach you that lesson?!" She held his gaze and shook her head silently. The Lauren that I knew would have burst into tears from words like that. But for some reason she showed no fear.

"You're a cruel bastard Natsu. Wow, never thought I'd use those words in a sentence. " She smirked slightly. There was something about that smirk that unnerved me. It was uncharacteristically... Cold. Frigid. As though the air temperature had actually dropped. Natsu seemed not to notice this as her grin widened and-…! And short fangs glinted where her canine teeth should have been.

"If you want to take her place again then be my guest!" He laughed cruelly, raising his fist. "Let's give that pale skin some colour!"

He realized his mistake when she blinked, her eyes changing from icy blue to bloody crimson, the pupil contracting into a slit. "Agreed. Let's stain it red." She purred in an almost seductive manner. In a flash, Natsu was no longer holding her as she twisted away, driving her knee up into his gut and giving a shove to launch him away from her. Coughing, he stumbled backwards but remained on his feet. All around him, his clique was edging him on, calling it a lucky shot and that he shouldn't be scared of the passive little bitch that he'd abused so many times before.

"Stand and fight. Hornless coward." she snarled viciously in response, adopting a battle stance that felt vaguely familiar to me as though I'd seen it before. But hornless coward? What kind of an insult was that? Again, it felt familiar, but why? The only answer that I could come up with didn't make sense! Unless...

"You'll pay for that." Natsu roared, charging at her and swinging his fist at her head. She ducked out of the way before leaping up off the ground and giving him a roundhouse kick to the back of the skull that sent him down to the ground, out like a light.

"Now see, this is why I don't drink. For one, you're off balance, for two you don't think before you swing. Jeez, you can't fight worth shit. I thought better of this Natsu." Lauren snorted, nudging him distastefully with the tip of her boot. At least our Natsu can give me a bruise or two at the end of the day. This is just... pathetic." She said, holding her head high and regal. Everyone was silent as she turned her gaze onto me, her eyes returning to normal. "Are you ready to talk to you hallucination now?" She asked, amusement in her tone as she gave a slight smirk.

She gestured for me to follow her as she began to head up to one of the spare rooms, giving a shocked Gray a peck on the cheek as she passed. There was no possible explanation for this! The eyes! her fighting! The insults! The fangs! Unless...

Unless she was a dragonslayer.

 **If the chapter sucks it's because I rushed writing it before a Halloween party and didn't get around to posting it until today! I'm sorry! Leave your reviews in the comments, new chapter soon. Peace out**


	13. Lauren

_Ready to talk to your hallucination now?_

It took a lot of effort to keep up with her. For such a short girl, she was fast. Especially since she wasn't wearing high heels as she usually did. Finally, I saw the tip of a dragon tail disappear into what I could only assume was Leo's bedroom. Rushing after her the door closed behind me and I looked over to see her standing there with her arms crossed leaning against the wall.

"I-… You... WHAT?!" I sputtered, unable to form logical sentences anymore. "How did you... I mean you're so..."

"Meek?" She asked in an amused tone of voice. "I am hardly meek. The Lauren of this world is... Pathetic. To say the least. But that doesn't matter. I can't stay long so I'll have to make this quick. Lucy we need to talk." She was twisting a strand of her inky black hair around her finger as she spoke. It was then that I noticed the dark circles under her eyes, a slightly hollow look to her.

"Hell yeah we need to talk! what's going on?! Who are you?! What are you?!" I demanded, reaching for my keys that weren't there on a reflex.

"Peace child. Look, I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability. My name is Lauren of Fairytail. I have many other titles that I won't get into depth over, but that's what I go by. As to WHAT I am, that's an excellent question. As I'm sure you've noticed, I am not human." The black tail behind her that had remained still until this point suddenly shook, as did the wings that had supposedly been attached to the sweater she was wearing, flinging black dust everywhere. When what I assumed was coal settled, the limbs glittered with white/silver scales. "I am half dragon daughter of Arcticana. Queen of the ice dragons and sole heir to her throne. Of course you'd know this is you hadn't forgotten everything. I'm a little insulted honestly. You remembered all but I." She chuckled softly in amusement. "Seriously! We have girls night every Wednesday! You, Levy, Erza, Wendy, and I."

"But... you're not real! Fairytail isn't-" I began, but she held up a a hand to silence me.

"Lucy. There is nothing that I want more than to help you understand. But THIS is the lie. Not Fairytail. And I'm using MASSIVE amounts of life force energy to be able to manifest myself. It's only a matter of time before I pass out, so WORK with me here!" She said cooly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "You're in a coma in Porlyeusica's tree. Loke had to put you like that if we were ever going to save you from dying. He was too slow to get you to a doctor, and this was all he could do. You're on the verge of death now." It began coming back to me slowly, bit by bit. The way she spoke, little gestures, mention of her past, and the black brand on the side of her neck that she kept adjusting the collar of her sweater to cover.

"You... I remember... How you're here..."

"Dragon magic. That's right." She nodded, inclining her head. "The ancient language of dragons has magical qualities. But it feeds off of my life force directly. It's how I was able to get into your head in the first place, but only for a few fleeting moments at a time."

"But that magic can also heal can't it?" I asked hopefully, lacing my fingers together. To my dismay, she shook her head.

"Not mental struggle of this magnitude. Neither I, nor Wendy, nor Porlyeusica can help you now. Only you can help you." She sighed softly as her wings disappeared. "Listen. We're doing everything that we can on the other side to help you. But you need to do this on your own. You need to find the way out. The key. There's something in here that you have to do or find. That will be your way out."

"But how will I know what I need to do?" I asked, wide eyed. I had no idea! How could I find something if I didn't know what I was looking for?! She did something that surprised me then. Lauren wrapped her arms around me in a gentle hug. One that felt so familiar, I knew that I had felt it before. It was then that I felt a rush of energy, her palms pressed flat against my back.

"You'll know... Oh if only I could put all of my nest mates under my wings and never let them out..." She sighed. I smiled softly at her odd yet familiar way of speaking. "I've given you some of my magic energy. In your comatose state I don't know if you'll be able to use it or not, but please don't waste it."

"I won't. I promise." I said gently, pulling away slightly. "I'll see you soon okay. In Magnolia." I said with a small smile. Lauren nodded, offering a grin as well.

"Yes. I will see you soon. No one will remember o the incident with me. And as soon as I vanish, this Lauren will reappear. When I go, you will remember me. You will remember that I am real, but you will know me as Cryogena. Not Lauren or that could disrupt the delusion. You will think that I am from this world. A rare magic user. you will remember subconsciously that you have something to find. But you will not remember that this is all a dream. If you begin acting too out of character, all could be lost. I will only have the power to manifest myself to you and you alone in the future. Do you understand? Quickly child!" She said, beginning to sag slightly.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you Lauren." I said quickly, nodding to make sure that she knew I understood. This was one hell of a lot to take in, but this could send me home. Home to Fairytail.

"Good... I'll..." She didn't even get to finish her sentence before her eyes rolled up into her head, body slowly dematerializing as her energy fizzled and failed. From what she told me, the magic was incredibly draining and in most cases life threatening. I was just impressed that she lasted as long as she did. But Fairytail...

My mind blanked. Fairytail? That was just my high school wasn't it? No special significance. But what I had learned of Cryogena filled my heart with hope. So... She came from the Bermuda triangle? I didn't remember discussing it with her, but I had a clear impression in my mind that she was a half dragon that had come from the Bermuda triangle. A place where all magical creatures had retreated to and built a weather barrier many hundred years ago...

I heard giggling as the door opened, a couple sweeping into the presumed empty room. My eyebrows shot up as the tiny bluenette giggled in his arms. Levy was dressed as an angel, and Gajeel a demon as he swept her up into his embrace. They were both pretty obviously drunk and hadn't taken notice of me yet as they kissed each other with a tenderness that surprised me. I never thought of Gajeel as the type. Eventually I decided to break the silence.

"*Cough* *cough* *cough* Could I just uh... Get past the two of you there?" I asked awkwardly, glancing at the door. Levy squeaked with surprise, her face turning scarlet.

"L-L-Lu-chan!" She laughed nervously. "This er..."

"Is exactly what it looks like." Gajeel grunted, standing aside so that I could get out the door. "Three weeks and counting." A small smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth as I watched the two of them. Levy only seemed to get more and more embarrassed.

"He-he... He doesn't... He's nicer than he seems, I swear! We weren't going to do anything... dirty!" She began to ramble. I simply shook my head with a small smile. I had seen this coming from a mile away (you'd have had to be blind not to) but pretended to be surprised anyway.

"Wow. I never expected this of you Levy-chan! But you two have fun." I grinned, closing the door behind me with a soft chuckle, leaving my friend's face red as a tomato.

 **Hey. Yes the chapter is short, but I have stuff to do. Just FYI, the stuff about the Bermuda triangle is the false memory that Lauren gave her before disappearing. If you have any questions, feel free to leave it in the reviews or send me a PM since if you don't know the OC, or there are about 6 other stories about her that I don't have posted that are part of her character, just ask. As usual I love to hear your reviews, leave them in the comments below.**


	14. Please Read! Very important!

Hey everyone. No, this is not the update that you're looking for, but it's important so I'd really appreciate if you read it.

I'm posting this on all of my current stories. This is in no way a discontinuation, But I've decided that because I have other stuff going on, I'm going to focus on finishing the three stories that I have on the go one at a time. I am asking you gys to vote for which story I should continue first and the one with the most votes by January 14th will be my main focus until it's done. When That happens I'll focus on the next story and the next one. Seem fair? So if you want to vote for this story or another one just leave it in the comments and I'll post again to see whose story won and hopefully have it finished by the end of the month or so unless exams get in the way.

Thank you so much for your understanding, and Leave the story that you ant in the comments!

Lauren Of Fairytail


	15. results

I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! EXAMS HAVE KEPT ME INCREDIBLY BUSY! I'M A PROCRASTINATING TEEN! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME, INTERNET-SENPAI! ;-; ;-; ;-; ;-;

But more to the point... I have an announcement to make

And the winner is *Drumroll* Da da da da da da da da daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The Goblet of Fairy Fire!

The other stories will be put on hold for the time being until I can finish the goblet. After that, I will continue and finish the others. Deal? Awesome!

Out of FIFTY ONE VOTES, The goblet won by a landslide with a whopping 30 votes.

Second was Comatose

And coming in third was Clash of the Genderbends. THAT DOES NOT SPECIFY ORDER OF COMPLETION!


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